With everyone putting down their daily newspapers and turning to the Internet as the primary source for news and information, world leaders, celebrities and corporations alike must find new avenues to capture people’s attention. Simply put, a high-profile placement in The Times is no longer enough to shape stories and change perceptions.
It seems that Jordan’s Queen Rania has learned this lesson well – as she is the leading world leader in utilizing new media to disseminate messages. By building a personalized YouTube site, Queen Rania aims to correct Western misconceptions of Arabs and others in the Middle East – and does so in one of fastest growing strategic communications venues around.
By engaging in an honest and transparent public dialogue on YouTube, Queen Rania’s site has generated a viral campaign that continues to grow each time she adds new content. This investment in new media has garnered her tremendous amounts of earned media, including features by BBC, CNN, and The London Times, among others.
Her primary launch video currently has 1,468,440 views, along with 5,856 text comments or questions and 48 video responses. In addition to the launch video she has also produced nine response videos to these questions and comments.
Queen Rania’s project proves that – regardless of your communications goals – taking into account the impact of non-traditional forms of media such as YouTube can pay huge dividends, often at a fraction of the cost of buying ad space in more traditional venues.
Steve Ellis, Senior Vice President of Levick Strategic Communications and manager of the firm’s International Practice Group, has headed U.S. communications efforts for foreign government clients in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean. Throughout his career, he has counseled high-level elected and appointed officials on media relations, internal communications, bilateral relations with the U.S. government, privatization, and freedom of the press initiatives.
