David Bohanna; How Rugby Personalities utilise Twitter

“HOW%RUGBY%PERSONALITIES%UTILISE%TWITTER%TO%TARGET%THEIR%PUBLICS,%AND%THE%REACTION%OF%THE%

PR%INDUSTRY”%!

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HOW%RUGBY%PERSONALITIES%UTILISE%TWITTER%TO%TARGET%THEIR%

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Submitted by David Bohanna

22nd March 2012

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the BA (Honours)

in Media & Public Relations in the Institute of Technology Carlow

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Acknowledgements

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This dissertation has shaped my life in many ways over the last few months; it

has at times been a joy whilst at other times I wanted to be anywhere but at the

computer (being a technophobe doesn’t help). I have met some great and

fascinating people whilst doing it, the rugby stars Bernard Jackman and Alan

Quinlan were so helpful and could not do enough for me whilst the PR

consultants Michael O’Keeffe, Marcus O’Buachalla and Miriam Donohoe

were generous with their time and responses.

It has been a very fast three years and a time I will never forget, along the way

I have made some great friends and been involved in various experiences I will

always remember. I have to thank all my lecturers over this time and I really

do appreciate those times you gave that little extra and offered encouragement

and support when my esteem and belief was low.

Finally to my son Oisin, who has always made me proud and so very happy to

be his dad.

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Abstract !

Initially the author looked at the feasibility of researching the subject matter

and decided if there was enough material to allow for investigation and if it

was an area of research worth pursuing. The answer to both of these questions

was yes so subject matter was chosen.

A comprehensive literary review was then carried out to establish what

research had been done into this subject, and from this it was decided on which

path the author would take. Research methodology was also decided upon and

adjusted to suit the overall aims and objectives.

Interviews were also conducted with results allowing for overall conclusions to

be drawn and recommendations to be made.

What the author discovered from this undertaking was the need for greater and more in depth study of Twitter and the PR industry’s reaction to it. There has been an uptake from both the rugby and PR industry to the use of Twitter but guidelines are yet to be fully established for its use.

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Table Of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………….....i

Abstract………………………………………………………………….....ii

Table Of Contents……………………………………………………………….iii - iv

1 RESEARCH ....................................................................................... 1

1.1 Title of dissertation ................................................................... 2

1.2 Reasoning behind researching this subject ............................. 2

1.3 Research Objectives ................................................................. 3

2 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER ............................................................... 4

2.1 Introduction .............................................................................. 5

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................. 6

3.1 Research Methodology ............................................................. 7

3.2 Secondary Research ................................................................. 7

3.3 Primary Research ...................................................................... 8

3.4 Intended conclusion from research ....................................... 10

3.5 Bibliography ........................................................................... 10

4 SECONDARY RESEARCH ................................................................ 11

4.1 Introduction ............................................................................ 12

4.2 Social Networking ................................................................... 13

4.3 Twitter ..................................................................................... 14

4.4 Twitter & Rugby ..................................................................... 15

5 FINDINGS & ANALYSIS .................................................................. 20

5.1 Primary Research .................................................................... 21

5.2 Email interview with Michael O’Keeffe .................................. 23

5.3 Email interview with Marcus O’Buachalla ............................. 25

5.4 Email Interview with Miriam Donohoe .................................. 28

5.5 Interview with Bernard Jackman ............................................ 30

5.6 Interview with Alan Quinlan .................................................. 34

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5.7 Findings .................................................................................. 38

5.8 Rugby personalities: ............................................................... 38

5.9 PR Professionals: .................................................................... 38

5.10 Limitations .......................................................................... 40

6 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................ 41

6.1 Conclusions ............................................................................ 42

7 RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................... 44

7.1 Recommendations .................................................................. 45

8 REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................... 47

8.1 References .............................................................................. 48

8.2 Bibliography ........................................................................... 50

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1 RESEARCH

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1.1 Title of dissertation

“How rugby personalities utilise Twitter to target their publics

and the reaction of the PR industry”

1.2 Reasoning behind researching this subject

The author chose this subject as it is a relatively new and growing

phenomenon which shows no sign of slowing or dissipating. It is an area

which has an impact on everyone’s lives each and every day be it directly or

indirectly. Our lives are now shaped to a certain extent by social media, and

sports personalities are becoming ever more vocal and willing to be heard. We

now have a chance to engage with these personalities on a virtual one to one

basis, they are no longer the distant and unreachable people they once were.

The author feels that this needed to be explored further and an understanding

gained of how and why this happened.

Also because of this upsurge in the use of social media the PR industry has had

to react and adapt accordingly. What are the steps being taken by the industry

to counteract any negativity social media has brought and how are they using it

to their own and their clients’ advantage.

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1.3 !Research Objectives At the end of the dissertation the author will have questions answered which

would be of benefit to the publics, sports personalities and PR consultants.

The author will find out how PR companies are reacting to the use of Twitter

by rugby personalities and the ways in which it can be utilised, also what

measures are being taken to counteract any negativity surrounding Twitters

use. The area of using Twitter as a commercial undertaking in our own name

will be examined also and whether there is a middle ground for

personal/commercial use of Twitter by rugby personalities.

Specific questions the author will have answered are:

How rugby personalities are embracing Twitter, and for what purposes.

How the PR industry is reacting to the advent of Twitter.

The future for Twitter in the PR industry.

What guidelines and rules are in place to control the use of Twitter.

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2 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

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2.1 Introduction

The aim of this dissertation was to highlight the increased use of Twitter by

both the PR industry and rugby personalities. It is used both privately and

professionally but these uses often intertwine so the distinction between both is

blurred. New media is here to stay and is changing the landscape of PR every

day be it for better or worse. The reaction from the PR industry has been

varied and some have embraced it more than others, what this dissertation

hopes to achieve is to gauge how much the world of PR has changed along

with the media landscape and what plans are in place to embrace and use this

new media technology.

Sports personalities are also now very much part of the social media and

Twitter scene and their opinions, views and daily lives are now more

transparent and open to fans than ever before. Followers of these personalities

and rugby personalities in particular number in the hundreds of thousands.

This opens up the way for rugby personalities to promote themselves and their

views to their publics as never before. The clever ones have embraced Twitter

from the very beginning and continue to use it to their advantage at every

opportunity.

This has opened up new avenues of revenue to these personalities but also it

brings risks, such as public backlash for some poor performance or a

misplaced comment put up in haste. The PR industry therefore needs to work

with these personalities in the work of promotion and PR campaigns using

Twitter while at the same time learning as they go along.

It is a time of opportunity, of fast moving news, fickle and fierce opinions and

a public that needs and expects to be informed about all that is happening as it

happens. By utilising Twitter from now, and working alongside their clients,

PR firms and personalities can expect to find new business revenues, new

campaign structures and greater customer and fan bases.

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3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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3.1 Research Methodology

Research can be defined in many ways,

“A scholarly or scientific investigation or inquiry.”

Or

“Endeavour to discover facts by scientific study of a subject, course or critical

investigation.”

Or

“Planned investigation employing recognised scientific methodology en route

for explaining issues, solving problems and creating new knowledge that is

generally applicable”.

(Grinnell, 1993, 4)

This would be a good starting point to explain the author’s research

methodology. There are various systems in place to do any research and each

of them have their own merits, however not all suited the author in the area of

research as some are more suited to other fields.

The methods the author used in doing the dissertation were a mixture of

qualitative and quantitative research methods. Secondary research consists of

using already existing information be it in the form of books, online or other

such forms. This information whilst valuable was not the main source of

information for the author as this is a relatively new field and the most up to

date information was gleaned by doing primary research.

3.2 !Secondary Research

As part of the authors overall dissertation there was also a literary review

submitted which the author used as a grounding in research techniques, social

media as a communicative tool, the role of the public’s in shaping

personalities and the role of personalities in the publics everyday life.

Some books and websites which the author included are;

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Breakenridge, D. (2009). PR 2.0, New Media New Tools, New audiences. FT

Press

Brown, R. (2009). Public Relations and The Social Web: how to use social media and web 2.0 in communications. Kogan Page Ltd

Jackman, B. (2011). Social Media and The Sports Star. [online], available: http://www.emeraldrugby.com/News/Blogs/Bernard/Social-media-and-the-sports-star.aspx [accessed 30th Dec 2011]

Franklin et al., (2009) Key Concepts In Public Relations.1st ed. Sage Publications

3.3 Primary Research The authors main information gathered was done using interviews

Interviews

“With qualitative research interviews you try to understand something

from the subjects point

of view and to uncover the meaning of their experiences. Interviews allow

people to convey to others a situation from their own perspective and in their

own words. Although the research interview may not lead to objective

information, it captures many of the subjects’ views on something.

That’s why the basic subject matter is not, as in qualitative research, object

data, but consists of meaningful relations to be interpreted”. ( Kvale 1996)

The interviews were carried out with rugby personalities and PR consultants,

the interviews were then carefully written so as to allow for the most in-depth

answers which could then be analysed and tied in with the authors other

findings. The author realised that it was of the utmost importance to give both

open and guiding questions in these questionnaires so as to get the most honest

and expansive answers.

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Interviews were done with rugby players Bernard Jackman (ex Ireland &

Leinster) along with ex Ireland and Munster player Alan Quinlan. These are

active twitter users both new and experienced and were an ideal base on which

to build the authors dissertation.

Some sample questions which were asked of the players and the PR

professionals were;

Why did you start using Twitter?

What is the reason you are using Twitter?

Have you encountered any problems on Twitter?

Do you see Twitter becoming too much of a self-promotion tool?

Interviews, the author believes are the best way to gain the most insight into

this particular topic as it is a relatively new phenomenon and very little

research has been conducted on it. The author has gained a unique and

firsthand viewpoint on this from those most associated to it and this research

was then accumulated to produce a body of work which is be fresh, insightful

and of benefit to those within the sports and PR industry.

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3.4 Intended conclusion from research

The author after doing all the research, literature reviews and interviews then

accumulated all the information into a comprehensive, understandable and

informative read which is of benefit of all involved within the sports industry

be it in a professional or purely enjoyable aspect. The author believes that all

who read it will come away with a clearer understanding of how social media

is shaping and changing the relationship between sports personalities and their

publics and also between sports personalities and the PR industry. The author

has also gained an understanding of where this phenomenon is going and how

it could be best utilised within their own industry. The area of PR and sports is

one that has always gone hand in hand and now it is just a matter of adjusting

both to suit each other’s needs and to reflect the changing times.

3.5 Bibliography

Baban, Serwan M.J. (2009)

Research: The Journey from Pondering to Publishing. UWI Press.

Agee,Warren K, Ault, Philip H, Cameron, Glen T, Wilcox. Dennis L (2003).

Public Relations, Strategies and Tactics. Allyn and Bacon

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4 SECONDARY RESEARCH !

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4.1 !Introduction

This chapter takes a brief look at what social networking is how it is used and

is changing our everyday lives, its force as a communicative tool and its

constant changing landscape.

Twitter will be defined and its affect will be examined on our culture and

society, explain why sports personalities are using it and how the public is

reacting to its usage by these personalities.

The growth in the use of Twitter by rugby internationals will also be studied

and comparisons drawn to highlight the difference in opinion of various

national teams. There are also five simple rules for sports stars to follow

before they use Twitter. Finally the author will look at Twitter and the rugby

personality, some issues which are negative about the use of Twitter by rugby

personalities will also be examined.

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4.2 Social Networking

Social networking is the natural extension of the concept of the original

internet; it really started according to Brown (Brown 2009) in 1995 when

Classmates.com was launched in the United States and in just ten years

achieved over 40 million users. These social networks have developed into

online communities and are used by tens of millions of people worldwide

daily. There are numerous different social network sites across the globe and

they are used by up to 500 million people. A major trend in social networking

according to Johnston (Stephen Johnston as cited in Breakenridge 2009) is the

integration of the real and the virtual world. Johnston states that micro

blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write extremely short text-

only blogs, usually restricted to a maximum of 140 characters and can be

shared publically or restricted to be read by one particular group, among these

micro blogging sites are Twitter and the ‘status’ section on Facebook. It is this

networking that allows users to interact about common interests, achievements

or ideas.

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4.3 !Twitter Twitter.com explains Twitter as a real-time information network that connects

you to the latest information about what you find!interesting. At the heart of

Twitter are small bursts of information called tweets.!!Each Tweet is 140

characters in length, connected to each Tweet is a rich details pane that

provides additional information, deeper context and embedded media. You can

tell your story within your Tweet, or you can think of a Tweet as the headline,

and use the details pane to tell the rest with photos, videos and other media

content. You can contribute, or just listen in and retrieve up to the second

information. (www.twitter.com 2011)

In his book, Brown (Brown 2009) sees Twitter as a personal newswire that

allows users to write a maximum of 140 characters which can then be

uploaded by means of SMS texts of from a PC. He talks of twitter as of

considerable importance to the future of PR because of its importance in

building groups of influential followers and building unique relationships

within your chosen groups. The instantaneous nature of it is also very

attractive according to Brown as it allows for an insight into a users everyday

movements and actions.

Rio Ferdinand, Man Utd and England football player and Twitter exponent

says;

“I just embraced it. At that time I was a bit sceptical of new things and

products, but it’s a really good way of interacting with fans and people and

shaping your image and avoiding giving a perception out to people of

something that isn’t really true through a media outlet that doesn’t really know

you...That appealed to me and I’ve started to get a better response, even just

walking to the shop, because people see that you are normal”. (British

Broadcasting Corporation, Social Media & Sport 2011)

As Tom Fox (2008) who writes for Setanta Sports says on the Blog site

simply Zesty, sports stars today are more accessible than they ever have been

in the modern era. Fans have never had such an insight into the minds of their

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favourite athletes thanks to Twitter and many sports stars can be quite prolific

tweeters. Like any celebrity status, there is a mystique about sports stars; a

fervent thirst for more knowledge on them.

The benefits to the sports personalities are obvious too as Fox reasons whilst

many professional athletes are genuine fans of Twitter as a tool, how many use

it to build their brand? They push you to things like their sponsors and

personal ventures. The increased accessibility of athletes coupled with the

personal touch that twitter brings makes it easy for professional athletes to

promote themselves and their products. The key is that they don’t simply use

Twitter to promote themselves or their brand. There must be some interaction

and valuable information in there. Ultimately, sports and social media look a

perfect match. Social media provides the platforms where people can share and

discuss this passion with people of a similar disposition. Social media

provides access not only to great sporting content but also to the athletes

themselves

4.4 !Twitter & Rugby

Rugby union is one of the world’s fastest growing team sports and is played

across the globe by both men and women. It has grown from just a small level

game to a now multi-billion euro industry. This year’s rugby world cup saw

an unprecedented rise in viewing figures and sponsorship.RNZ 2011

announced in September 2006 that hosting RWC 2011 will generate more than

NZ$1.15 billion in total economic activity, and pump more than half a billion

dollars into the New Zealand economy, according to an economic impact

report prepared by Horwath Asia Pacific Ltd and RWC 2011 is estimated to

add NZ$507 million to New Zealand’s gross domestic product. Record

viewing figures were set as 1.97 million viewers tuned in to the RWC final in

New Zealand and in France it gained a 73% share of the TV audience. (Rugby

World Cup 2011)

Across the world new teams and leagues are emerging as the sport grows and

expands, from the U.S.A to India to England. According to the Sporting

Goods Manufacturers Association it is the fastest growing team sport in

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America and in 2010 the numbers playing grew from 750,000 to 1.13 million

as reported by Tom Geoghegan, BBC News, New York, (BBC UK 2011) and

in England it is the fastest growing sport in the country also according to the

Rugby Football Union. (RFU 2011)

According to Michael R.Real (2008 p14-17) the scale of mediated sports is

exploding globally and is seen in the rise of sports shows, magazines, internet

sites and sports marketing. There is a public obsession with sports that spills

into our everyday lives and has an effect on how we manage our schedules and

social lives to interact with sporting events. He also argues that commercial

television and its value system of profit seeking, marketing, sponsorship and

competition have changed the face of modern sports and have led to this new

age of sports and media being interlinked.

As a natural progression from this we have the age of social media and sports

stars, rugby players have become in their own right ‘celebrities’ and with this

comes a need to reach their audience. Klapp as quoted in Mediasport (1962

p137) states that athletic heroes have degenerated into mere celebrities whilst

Barney and Barney (1989 Wenner p137) argues that sports stars become

heroes because of their performances, morality and social responsibility.

Franklin (Franklin et al., 2009) defines celebrity as a person who is widely

recognised and who commands both public and media attention. Other types

of fame are almost certain to guarantee a level of celebrity, people such as

actors, musicians or athletes achieve this.

At the rugby World Cup in New Zealand of 2011 there was a new

phenomenon, which was Twitter; at the previous World Cup in 2007 it had not

even been launched yet within four days of the start of the tournament Twitter

mentions had reached 24,000. (John Fell 2011).

Management from the various competing countries each had their own way to

police the use of twitter by the players, Graham Henry the New Zealand coach

banned the use of twitter entirely throughout the tournament stating “We

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haven’t had a policy up till now, We’ve just asked them to make good

decisions about that and, in the All Blacks camp, most of the time, they’ve

made good decisions, but, at Rugby World Cup time, zilch.” This ploy may

have added to the success of New Zealand who went on to win the tournament.

England coach Martin Johnson considers Twitter a dirty word and has made it

clear that any player who steps out of line on a social network may "not be an

England player for very long." Asked by the BBC whether he'd join the

'Twitterati', Johnson was typically forthright: "Don't hold your

breath." (Twitter Commandments for Rugby Players 2011). The English team

meanwhile were allowed the use of twitter provided they used common sense

and did not write anything controversial, paradoxically the English team

crashed out spectacularly after one of their worst ever World Cup showings.

The Irish team, after agreement with management were allowed to tweet with

certain restrictions in place, Irish team manager Paul McNaughton stated that

whilst the IRFU had no problem with the use of twitter it was considered that it

could be a distraction to the players and all parties had agreed to limit the use

of it around match time. (The Score 2011) This came in the wake of a war of

words between some tweeters and three Irish Internationals after Irish captain

Brian O’Driscoll was singled out for criticism and told to retire by a tweeter,

fellow internationals Cian Healy and Jamie Heaslip took to twitter to vilify this

tweeter and defend their teammate , @jamieheaslip tweeted “if u got

something bad to say, go somewhere else or unfollow...” whilst

@ProperChurch (Cian Healy) tweeted “take your negativity elsewhere please

or don’t bother following...”. (Joe.ie 2011)

Bernard Jackman, former Irish rugby international writes in (Social Media and

The sports Star 2011) that rugby is competing with so many other sports that it

is important that the players keep in touch with their fan base, once guidelines

are put in place by management about its use then players are to be trusted in

what they decide to tweet. Many of the current Irish team are active on twitter

at the moment and include Paul O’Connell (Irish Captain), Sean O’Brien, Rory

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Best, Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip and Cian Healy. (Welsh Rugby Blog

2011)

Clay Travis, ( Outkick the Coverage 2011) an American sports writer and

journalist has also written on the subject and believes that, every sports star on

Twitter is their own news network and the use of Twitter empowers the

individual as no other media tool before. He also would argue that there are

tens of billions of dollars in Twitter revenue coming and it is up to each sports

star and agency to be prepared for this and to work towards harnessing it.

On the subject of sports stars using Twitter, Jacob Share (2010) gives his five

simple rules on which should be followed;

1) Know how to use Twitter Accidently sending an incriminating message as

a public tweet has different consequences when you have tens of thousands of

followers, and many more fans beyond those. So take the little bit of time

necessary to get comfortable with Twitter on your computer and/or your smart

phone.

2) Get your Twitter account Okayed by your agent Your agent is your

salesman. If you might do anything that impacts your value (positively or

negatively) in the eyes of your boss and future bosses, your agent needs to

know, at the very least so they can advise you how to increase your results or

minimize the damage. Also, if being on Twitter is very important to you; your

agent can negotiate it into your contract.

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3) Get your Twitter account Okayed by team management If your coach or

anyone else in management is going to have a problem with your tweets, you’ll

want to know ASAP, or else your agent might be called in. They might just

have a policy you need to follow, since many teams really do think players’

tweeting is a good thing, within reason.

4) Know what the league rules are for using Twitter and then follow those

rules. Your pay may be so high that a €25,000 fine means nothing, but being a

rich player tweeting about money is guaranteed to make your life worse.

5) Do not tweet about anyone else on your team unless they are also on

Twitter and can respond. Otherwise, not about your coach, not your

teammates, no one in the organization. This is one time where focusing on

yourself and what’s happening in your playing career is really what interests

people the most. If you want to ruin your reputation with careless tweets,

that’s your choice. Don’t drag anyone else in with you.

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5 FINDINGS & ANALYSIS

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5.1 Primary Research Primary research was done using interviews and email interviews on a number

of people. The aim was to discover how rugby personalities are utilising

Twitter to target their publics and also how the PR community has reacted to

the use of Twitter by said personalities.

Interviews took place with ex Ireland and Leinster rugby player Bernard

Jackman and ex Ireland and Munster player Alan Quinlan. Bernard is now a

rugby analyst on RTE and BBC Wales as well as a columnist with the Carlow

Nationalist, Irish Examiner and a rugby blog post for Betpack. He is also head

coach for Tullow RFC senior team and has written a very well received

autobiography entitled Blue Blood published in 2010 which reached the best

sellers list in Ireland.

Alan Quinlan now works as a brand ambassador for the Ulster Bank league as

well as being a regular columnist for rugby in the Irish Times; he also works as

a rugby analyst and pundit for Sky Sports. In 2010 he released his much

acclaimed autobiography ‘Red Blooded’ which charts his rise to the top of the

professional rugby game. Alan also devotes a lot of his time now supporting

the Positive Mental Health campaign in Ireland with www.leanonme.net.

Email interviews were sent to Michael O’Keeffe, Miriam Donohoe and

Marcus O‘Buachalla and all three responded very kindly and promptly.

Michael O’Keeffe is the managing director of Pembroke Communications in

Dublin, Michael is an avid rugby and sports fan and among his clients are

Leinster Rugby. The specialities of Pembroke Communications include Sports

PR and Sponsorship so Michael was an ideal person to contact in relation to

the questionnaire.

Another email interview was forwarded to Miriam Donohoe who is the owner

of MD Media, a PR and Media Consultancy based in Kilkenny. Miriam is

also a former news editor at the Sunday Tribune as well as working for a

number of years at The Irish Independent and Irish Times. The author

believed Miriam would be ideal because of her background in media and

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knowing how sports personalities use the media to promote themselves as well

as her vast experience in the PR industry.

Marcus O’Buachalla is a sports presenter on Newstalk, in the Irish Daily Star

and commentates on matches for TG4 and 3e. He also works in PR as his day

to day job with contributions to www.irishmediawatch.ie. As such he was an

ideal candidate to approach for my email interview.

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5.2 Email interview with Michael O’Keeffe (Managing Director of Pembroke Communications)

Q1: Are you a follower of rugby players/ personalities on Twitter?

I follow a number of the Irish rugby players, Tommy Bowe, Jamie Heaslip,

Cian Healy, Rob Kearney and Brian O’Driscoll in particular. I follow Leinster

Rugby and other official Twitter accounts.

Q2 What are your reasons for following them?

I like to hear what they have to say about their lives outside of rugby. From a

work perspective it is also important I see what they are doing and how they

treat sponsors. If you are not following, then you may also miss some

breaking news.

Q3 Does it allow for personal interaction with rugby personalities/

players?

Not unless you know them personally. Players do not tend to engage with

general public and tend to only follow each other and other sports stars on

twitter.

Q4 Would you often engage with the rugby players online?

Rarely or Never

Q5 What would put you off following players?

Players who put up irrelevant information and become indulgent. I also find

“in” jokes off putting. Players need to be engaging, offering interesting

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personal insights into how they are feeling before or after a game. What they

are eating or their views on TV shows are not that interesting.

Q6 Do you find many rugby players / personalities are becoming too

commercial in their use of Twitter?

I don’t think so. In fairness most have stayed away from this. However,

Brian O’Driscoll can be quite commercial at times.

Q7 Is Twitter becoming too much of a self-promotion tool?

It has changed a little from being a personal communications channel to a

promotional tool and some sports stars see it this way.

Q8 What are the problems facing PR companies who are contracted with

rugby personalities who use Twitter?

A player who abuses other players, referees or fans on Twitter is a liability.

However, a good ambassador contract covers areas like this.

Q9 How do you think the PR industry has reacted to the advent of

Twitter?

Twitter and all forms of social media are now part of most if not all our media

campaigns when using sports stars for promotional purposes or promoting an

event or competition.

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5.3 Email interview with Marcus O’Buachalla (Sports presenter on Newstalk, Columnist in the Irish Daily Star and

commentator on matches for TG4 and 3)


Yes


I am interested in most things sporting and in particular the ins and outs of

being a sportsperson. From training regimes, to gear, to diet etc.

Q3 Does it allow for personal interaction with rugby personalities/

players?

Not really. Of all the times that I have reacted to a tweet from a rugby

personality only a few have answered “Off the cuff” – what I mean by that is

that my question was not part of a planned session of Q&A with fans that a lot

of sports personalities do. Of the current players that have replied, Brian

O’Driscoll replied with regard to the modifications on his Adidas boots. Peter

O’Mahony also replied to a tweet that I sent him. Bernard Jackman the former

player is also very responsive. But in general they have the banter with fellow

players, but little else.


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If I see something that interests me, yes. I will retweet or I may even ask a

question but getting a reply is another matter!!


If it was overly commercial – or very obviously being run by a PR person

rather than the individual! As someone in the industry they can be spotted a

mile off…I won’t name and shame!!

Q6 Do you find many rugby players / personalities are becoming too

commercial in their use of Twitter?

No, not really. I think that most follow the American model and that is fine i.e.

using a hash tag to let people know that this tweet is on behalf of a sponsor.

But I think that anyone on Twitter should realise that these accounts will be

used by commercial entities to raise awareness of their product. It’s the trade

off I suppose so it doesn’t bother me as long as it is not every second tweet.


It depends. There are some Twitter accounts that I follow that do nothing

more than update when the next event is on, when the next opening is and

where the product can be got. These accounts are missing the point in my

opinion. Twitter accounts should be engaging and informative and need not

100% of the time relate to the person or the product.

Q8 What are the problems facing PR companies who are contracted with

rugby personalities who use Twitter?

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Control. If my client sponsors rugby player Mr. X, depending on the level of

association between my client and Mr X, the fallout from a controversial tweet

could hit my client. The whole idea of Twitter is that it is spontaneous and

from the account holder, not from some PR fella in an office, so for that to

happen, the sponsor needs to trust Mr X. This trust is well placed most of the

time as rugby professionals in Ireland are by and large media savvy but you

can see with a lot of the English rugby players tweets and also tweets from

soccer players, that their level of awareness might not be what a sponsor is

looking for. It is no surprise that not many sponsors go near Joey Barton for

example. A recent Irish example of what can happen was the chef Rachel

Allen who used Twitter (or maybe Facebook) to upload a picture of her after a

day hunting pheasant. The issue? The dead birds were placed on the bonnet of

her Audi jeep – a sponsored Audi jeep. And this picture was carried in most

national papers.

Q9 How do you think the PR industry has reacted to the advent of

Twitter?

Slowly! Clients and indeed some PR companies don’t appreciate how effective

a tool it can be. The common statement is, “well they are on Twitter (or

Facebook) so we need to be”… Once you go live you need to have a strategy

and a plan and clearly defined targets for what you/your client wants to

achieve. Having an account on Twitter won’t do much for you unless you are

actively engaging with people and it is that part that so many PR companies

and their clients are not doing right. The traditional PR world is changing –

print media is facing a critical few years – and social media will continue to

play a bigger and bigger role.

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5.4 Email Interview with Miriam Donohoe

(Managing Director of MD Media)


Yes I am even though I am not a major rugby fan. I follow Brian O’Driscoll, Tommy Bowe and Rob Kearney.


Because they are so well known and because I think it gives me an insight into their personalities. I am also curious about how big personalities, whether they be sporting or otherwise, engage on Twitter.

Q3 Does it allow for personal interaction with rugby personalities/ players?

I have only once personally sought interaction with players - but I have seen how many do interact with fans which I think is great. It really gives the fan a way of connecting with their heroes which is nice.


I don’t engage with them as such, I just observe and watch. Although last week I did tweet some of the big Irish rugby stars from my MD Media PR account asking them to retweet a tweet about the Carlow Tag Rugby Festival coming up in June. The club is attempting to break the World Record for most teams taking part in a tournament with proceeds going to charity. But I got no response! I am presuming that is because the tweet came from a PR company account. If the request had come from the Tag Rugby Account they may have been more successful.

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If they got abusive or overly smart with fans. I haven’t come across that yet!

Q6 Do you find many rugby players / personalities are becoming too commercial in their use of Twitter?

No. One of the reasons they are on Twitter is for commercial gain and players use Twitter to endorse brands they are contracted with. But I have no problem with that personally. It’s part of the game!


No its very essence is that it’s a self-promotion tool. Whether promoting yourself, your opinions, your business or your products. That’s what Twitter does.

Q8 What are the problems facing PR companies who are contracted with rugby personalities on Twitter?

I don’t think it’s a problem for PR companies. If they are clever they should build into their strategies how Twitter can be used to build up their player’s personalities and profiles and to see how Twitter can be used to deliver for brands the players are associated with. They should look at it as a positive rather than a negative.

Q9 How has the PR world reacted to the advent of Twitter?

More and more PR companies are seeing that Twitter is an invaluable (and free!) marketing tool. I think any PR company that decides to ignore Twitter does so at their peril. You simply can’t ignore it in this digital age and most PR campaigns now build in Twitter and social media as another platform, outside of print and broadcast, to get the clients message out to a worldwide audience.

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5.5 Interview with Bernard Jackman (Rugby analyst on RTE and BBC Wales)

Q1 Why did you initially join Twitter?

I was slow to join it to be honest but then found it was a great way to get up to

date sports news and links to athletes and high performers that I admire. I

started following the golfers when Grame Mc Dowell won the US Masters and

had cool photos of boarding his private jet; it was an insight to the world of the

elite sportsmen. I just followed for the first while without tweeting but then

started to tweet links to interesting articles I had come across about rugby and

it became interactive. I started then to chat live to people which felt great and

often took part in group discussions.

Q2 Do you have a personal & sporting account?

No just my own one in my own name.

Q3 Do you find twitter a useful tool for engaging with your fans?

It is great for opening up a forum, for example, if I tweeted Ireland are great,

and what do you think? I would receive replies and different opinion; it would

be boring if everybody agreed. I have gotten business out of it to be honest, I

may have answered someone and next thing they are looking for a guest

speaker. It has been really good to be to be honest but only in a small way, I

have turned it into revenue and made it work for me.

Q4 Do you use it just for personal use or business?

Originally it was just for personal use but now because I write for the

Examiner and a weekly blog for the betting firm Betpack as well as being

contracted to RTE radio and television I use it to promote myself. I let people

know when I will be on TV and radio and add value to the media outlets that

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are using me and paying me, and heighten awareness about my commentary

and punditry.

Q5 Does it feel strange having so many followers wondering about your

everyday life?

I try not to think about it and I never talk about my family or put up pictures

of them, at one stage I had that thing that puts up your location but someone

told me it would be a good idea to turn off that so I did. I do some quick

Q&A’s, last week I was coming back from Cardiff after working for BBC

Wales and was stuck in the airport for two hours so I tweeted did anyone want

to do a Q&A session, so spent the next two hours answering questions, I got a

lot of followers from Wales out of it. I use it mainly for selfish reasons, that is

to boost my own profile.

Q6 Have you encountered any problems on Twitter?

No but I know some of the lads were getting abuse, Brian O’Driscoll got abuse

before after Ireland lost a game and even last week Conor Mortimer the Mayo

footballer who I would be pally with got abused on it. I know a lot of people

just go on Twitter to try and get a rise out of people also there was horrendous

racism against Stan Collymore ( ex Liverpool footballer), he retweeted some of

the tweets he received telling him to hang himself because he suffers from

depression, horrendous. You have to be strong enough to know these people

are small minded; I wouldn’t let that stop me from using it you know.

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Q7 Would you use your twitter account to endorse products?

Yes, I have a sponsored car from BMW, Joe Duffy motors so they would send

me stuff that is happening around their garage and I would retweet it. They

only have a couple of hundred followers so I do that, also when I was still

playing I was with Puma so I always mentioned them and I still promote the

betting website and the Examiner things like that.

Q8 Do you see yourself staying on twitter?

Yeah yeah I will, amazingly we were playing in the Towns Cup on Sunday

(Tullow) and by using hash tag Towns Cup I got all the live scores from all

around, I never had that before so for live news it is incredible.

Q9 Are Leinster and Ireland coaches giving guidelines for the usage of

twitter?

Yeah there is 24hr ban both before and after games, I think it is common

across all provinces. If for example a guy gets up and says he is sick on Twitter

then the other team knows he is not playing or whatever, and after a game

there may be emotions if something went wrong during a game something

could be said on the spur of the moment or give out about the referee or

whatever. That 24hrs gives these guys breathing space to get their emotions in

check.

Q10 Do you see Twitter becoming too commercial and just being a self

promoting tool?

I suppose there has to be a balance, I read an article today which said that you

can buy followers which is crazy and expensive, you can buy 20,000 followers

or whatever and people are doing it, Michael Jackson apparently bought

followers, I don’t know why he had to!. Listen if I was following someone

and they continuously endorsed stuff I would stop following them, there has to

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be a balance, if there is just an odd comment endorsing a product fine but if all

they are doing is endorsing I would not follow them , that is a personal choice,

you know?

Q11 Some celebrities pay people to manage their accounts, do you look

after your own?

(Lots of laughing) If I was a celebrity I would pay someone, no listen if you

hand it over to someone else it is not going to be you, do you know what I

mean?

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5.6 Interview with Alan Quinlan (Irish times columnist and Sky Sports pundit)

Q Why did you Join Twitter?

I joined because I was going to New Zealand to cover the World Cup and I had

recently finished playing rugby in May. Going into broadcasting and the

media I wanted to know more about Twitter, I didn’t really know anything

about it ha ha. I knew you could post messages and that stuff so I wanted to let

people know how I was getting on in my new life as a broadcaster and working

as a commentator for ITV in New Zealand, that’s how it started really, I sent a

few tweets from there but got a bit lazy with it. I had heard the other players

talking about it over the years and going into the media and doing some

corporate stuff I wanted to let people know what I was doing, and what the

new life was about. I don’t tweet about what I had for breakfast I can assure

you.

Q do you have a personal and a sporting account or just the one?

Just the one account I use because I write for the Irish Times as well so I tweet

about that or what matches I will be covering you know?

Q Is it more for personal use then or for your fans?

It’s a source of information but I also use it for personal use such as having a

bit of banter with the other rugby players and people I know as well, I have

become more confident on it.

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Q Do you see or have you encountered any problems on Twitter?

No I haven’t actually so far but I can see that being on social media there are

potential problems out there, you have to be very careful what you say on it.

Q Would you or have you used your twitter account to endorse products?

Not to endorse products but certainly to let people know about what I am

doing or who I am working for, I do a bit of work for Ladbrokes so I send a

few tweets and do a bit of promotional work for them but I would send tweets

about prices they are offering or promotions. Probably not to endorse products

but talking about stuff I would be doing. So probably promoting myself more

than anything.

Q So do you see yourself staying on Twitter?

No I will stay on it, it got to the stage where I became a bit addicted to it,

reading it all the time and checking what everyone else was saying. I will stay

on it but not so much, just a couple of tweets a week or when one of the lads

puts up something controversial I will slag them and stuff like that.

Q So what positives has Twitter given you?

Well I think it certainly helps me promote work I do and the work with Mental

Health I do, letting people know about work I will be doing with RTE, ITV or

SKY and appearances I will be making if anyone wants to meet me and stuff

like that. Plus I have a bit of banter with the boys and meet people I haven’t

met in years or talked to so it is a bit of fun as well.

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Q Do you see Twitter becoming too commercial and self promoting?

I don’t know to be honest, it’s a great way to communicate and you can only

put up short messages of 140 characters as you know and updates, I was never

a Facebook man and don’t have a huge opinion on it. I follow a lot of sports

stations and give match updates myself and follow them so I think it’s a good

thing.

Q Are you contracted to or represented by any PR firm?

No

Q Do you envisage any problems for PR firms representing clients on

Twitter?

I don’t see any problems really you know what I mean? If a company wants to

use a player and pay them its freedom, you are free to do what you want on

Twitter it’s your own personal account but if you are working for someone and

you promote them its fair game you know? But look you don’t want everyone

going on to Twitter for the wrong reasons, the reason Twitter is there is to let

people know where you are, what you are doing, a bit of banter, your opinions

on things as well. I see Stan Collymore (ex Liverpool soccer player and now

pundit) does a lot of work for depression and on Twitter as well, I let people

know when I am going to be on the TV or radio so if they want to listen to me

they can.

Q Do you know about any restrictions of Twitter use with Munster?

I never asked to be honest but I know with Ireland it is twenty four hours

before and after matches so I presume it is the same. Most lads know to check

these things out and use common sense you know?

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Q Is there any media training given to players?

Absolutely not, most of the coaches don’t even know what Twitter is, they are

not used to it either, six months ago I didn’t know what it was either only for it

was recommended to me going to New Zealand to follow the lads and players

to see what was going on.

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5.7 Findings

5.8 Rugby personalities:

Ex international rugby player Bernard Jackman has taken to Twitter in a much

personalised way, he used it initially to just follow sports stars he admired but

eventually started to tweet himself. He started using it purely for personal

interests at first but realised its potential then. His initial tweets were about

articles he had read or information about sport he found interesting. Then as

he became more adept at using Twitter he realised it was a way to promote and

market himself. Bernard said in the interview that he has often found work

through his twitter account and uses it as well to build up hype and awareness

about appearances he will be making or articles he has written.

Bernard admits too that he will endorse products on it but believes there has to

be a balance between pure self promotion and being interesting to follow. That

is why he often engages in Q&A sessions via his Twitter account, it builds his

profile, gets him followers but also as he says, it gets other opinions because if

everyone always agreed it would be boring. He is always looking for ways to

use Twitter to his advantage and will stay using it as it ‘amazes him’ how it

feeds live news.

5.9 PR Professionals:

The PR consultants I questioned had very strong views also on the use of

Twitter by rugby personalities. They all followed various players and coaches

but all agreed that in general it was very much a one way street as most would

not respond to questions or tweets. There were a couple of exceptions to this

though; Peter O’Mahony and Brian O’Driscoll had replied once but very

interestingly Bernard Jackman was found to be “very responsive”. This is a

direct link to the way Bernard Jackman viewed using Twitter and ‘playing the

game’ as he said to me when we spoke after the recording, he told me that he

always respected the media and the general public because he recognised that

he wanted to enter the world of punditry and media when he retired and people

remembered how he had treated them.

Michael O’Keefee is an avid sports fan and follows many rugby personalities

both from a personal interest viewpoint but also for the fact that he needs to

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keep abreast of what is happening in relation to PR. He will follow these

people as long as they stay engaging and interesting but not if they become too

commercial and use Twitter to just blatantly endorse various products.

Michael does recognise though that sports personalities and social media are

now part of the PR world and they need to work together. One of the problems

he does envisage though is the misuse of Twitter by personalities who might

say something which could be damaging or insulting to a PR firm but he said a

good “ambassador contract” will cover that. [Ambassador Agreements are

legal documents that guide the behavior and responsibilities of a corporate

spokesperson and the company that he represents]

Marcus O’Buachalla points out that there are some accounts of personalities

which are quite obviously run by PR firms on their behalf and he has no time

for these. He says that Twitter accounts need to be engaging and interesting

and not just commercial or else they are missing the point, he also stated that

the biggest problem facing PR is ‘control’, he went on to explain that PR firms

who have clients on Twitter have to maintain certain restraint and try and make

sure they are media savvy.

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5.10 Limitations

The author throughout this assignment came across problems both small and

large, some of these proved to be most troublesome whilst others were easily

overcome. The smaller ones included; finding literature which provided

information on chosen subject as it is a relatively new area and defining the

search area and overall topic as it changed constantly as the work progressed.

These were overcome by extensive research and allowing greater freedom of

research subject, this gave a much broader scope to subject that had originally

been anticipated.

The most pressing problem throughout was finding suitable subjects to

interview and even more difficult was getting in contact and receiving replies

from said contacts. Overall the response was excellent when these subjects

were eventually reached and the replies gave great credence to the work. Irish

international Sean O’Brien proved to be elusive throughout even after phone

calls and meetings, as he was in the middle of the Six Nations rugby

tournament. Time and time again the author tried to pin him down but to no

avail and eventually when the author managed to talk to him it was too tight on

time.

However all these problems were eventually overcome and worked around, it

took just time,patience and flexibility.

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6 CONCLUSIONS !

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6.1 Conclusions

Retired rugby players are becoming very media savvy and have learned to

utilise Twitter to promote both themselves and products or companies they are

involved with. Keeping their followers informed of what they are doing is

vital to maintaining their profile and getting new work and followers. It is a

way to manage their own PR if you will and engage with the publics in a way

they were not able to before. These personalities are now accessible as never

before and engage with fans on a much more personal level. The personalities

recognise the advantages of Twitter and the need to remain in the public eye at

all times both to self- promote and be informative. What they also recognise is

the importance of Twitter as an up to date news feed, with results of matches,

sports related happenings and fans opinions being vital to keeping them

informed. When all these things are taken into account the personalities are

then ‘current’, informed and knowledgeable so as to pass this information on

to their own and other followers.

The PR profession have also embraced social media and Twitter and

recognised the importance of keeping abreast of all new media. It is used by

PR consultants for both professional and private interests. The private uses

however cross over to professional uses, as keeping informed and aware of

who is doing what will be vital in their place of work.

Some problems which the industry professionals envisaged are; control of

what is said by clients of theirs or someone associated to their client, this can

be difficult because of the spontaneity of Twitter and the freedom of it.

Keeping staff and themselves up to date is another potential problem with extra

time and resources needed for both. Other companies and clients have also not

reacted quickly enough to the advent of Twitter and failed to utilise or

recognise its importance.

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The positives to be gained within the PR industry are many according to the

professionals, first and foremost it is free and available to all to use as they see

fit for campaigns and clients. It gives another dimension to PR campaigns and

if used correctly can improve the overall campaign to reach a wider audience.

It also can be updated frequently and as such allows for the publics to be

constantly informed and aware about what is happening with any given client

or campaign.

Overall the author found that Twitter has been embraced by both the PR

industry and rugby personalities along with many others. It is in the opinion of

all ‘here to stay’ and will be continued to be used and utilised to its full

potential for both personal and professional reasons. It is a two way system

with information being fed in and received whilst being filtered for whatever

use deemed necessary. Twitter has been adopted by all walks of life and

adapted by many for a variety of reasons so it will continue to a vital source of

information and news for the foreseeable future according to the interviewees.

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7.1 Recommendations

The author, after conducting interviews with rugby personalities and PR

professionals has a number of recommendations which could be carried out on

this subject;

o Media and social media training to be given to all professional sports

persons as this would allow for greater contact with their publics and be

used as a base for themselves to work within the media industry as

pundits/ journalists when their professional sports careers end.

o Appointed spokespersons in each professional team to be responsible

each month in dealing with social media duties. This would actively

encourage the interaction of players and fans and also create an identity

for each player with their publics.

o Restrictions to be placed on the use of Twitter and social media by

professional sportspersons to allow for full concentration on duties and

matches for twenty four hours both before and after games.

o PR firms and consultants to embrace new media and technology, this

would be in the interest of the PR professionals, their clients and the

public.

o Training time and monies to be allocated to keeping PR consultants up

to date with all new media advances and how to use it effectively in

campaigns.

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o PR firms need to constantly monitor social media sites to be aware of

any news or happenings of which they should be aware. This would

serve the purpose of knowing what competitors are doing, of knowing

where to aim any future campaigns and trends that are occurring.

o PR firms should use Twitter to follow as many people as possible to

keep abreast of what is happening in all walks of life and react quickly

to any negative comments or happenings instantly.

o PR clients need to be kept informed also of all new media and the

possible impact it could have on their business or campaigns. There is

little point in running a social media campaign for any client who could

undo any good work with the push of a button or a misplaced comment.

o Further research into the use of Twitter for both professional rugby

players and the PR industry is highly recommended as this landscape

changes daily and new trends emerge all the time.

o Guidelines and rules need to be adapted by both industries to

counteract any negativity Twitter could bring.

o Governments need to look at the possibility of cyber-bullying being a

real issue for its peoples and would need to review how much freedom

these sites and its users have.

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8 REFERENCES &

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Breakenridge, D. (2009). PR 2.0, New Media New Tools,New audiences. FT

Press

Brown, R. (2009). Public Relations And The Social Web: how to use social

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Franklin et al., (2009) Key Concepts In Public Relations.1st ed. Sage

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Mc Laren, D. (2011). Social Media & Sport. [online], available:

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Rowe, David,C. (2003). Sport, Culture and the Media; The Unruly Trinity.

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Travis,C. (2011). 2011 Belonged To Twitter. So Does The Future Of Sports

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Welsh Rugby Blog. (2011) Rugby Players on Twitter. [online], available:

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Steinar, Kvale (1996) Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research

Interviewing. Sage Publications

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Business dictionary, 2012 [online] available:

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8.2 Bibliography

Brockmeier, J. (2011). 10 Tips on Using Twitter. [online] available:

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Keane, K. (2011). Twitter feels the heat as rugby stars feel the cold. [online]

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RFU.com. (2011). Rugby’s Core Values. [online] available:

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