Post by guest PR columnist, Alison Kenney.
I’m fascinated by Groupon. And LivingSocial and Local Ginger — to name a few of the many “daily deal” sites I subscribe to.
While I know that the concept of “daily deals” or “limited time-only specials” that is not new, I’m amazed by how many of these sites exist now and am blown away by the estimated valuation of Groupon, as evidenced by the fact that Google was offering to buy it for over $5 billion. Yes, that’s billion with a “B.”
Recently I had the pleasure of listening to Ted McNamara, CFO of Rue La La, another daily deal site. He explained Rue La La’s approach to advertising and customer acquisition this way:
Under the traditional online shopping model, merchants pay Google to appear near the top of the list when a shopper searches for a brand on Google. The problem with this model from an online merchant’s point of view is that there’s rarely a chance to build loyalty. Instead the customer builds their loyalty to Google and its search capabilities and returns to Google the next time they want to find/buy something. Rue La La decided they could scrap their Google Ads budget and be much more cost-effective and productive by encouraging shoppers with exclusive (but free) “membership” to their daily digest of high-end boutiques offering selective merchandise at great value. As a Rue La La member, the customer is more loyal to the site and returns much more frequently.
TechCrunch also wrote about these “build it” vs. “buy it (ads on Google)” options from a local merchant’s point of view and the Groupon vs. Google struggle for local social mindshare.
Groupon’s success and its somewhat stunning dismissal of Google’s acquisition offer have led many to speculate about the future of Google. Groupon has shown that social and local are hot. In addition to failing to acquire Groupon, Google also failed in a bid to acquire Yelp last year and killed Foursquare predecessor Dodgeball after acquiring it. Does Google just not understand social? Are entrepreneurs like Groupon’s Andrew Mason afraid of what will happen to their social local businesses once Google gets them?
What do you think? Do you use daily deal sites personally or as a marketer?
Alison Kenney an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston’s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She writes a bi-monthly PR column on LindsayOlson.com. You can find her at www.kprcommunications.com. Learn more about Alison Kenney.
By guest PR columnist, Alison Kenney.
There have been quite a few blog posts with provocative headlines wondering if PR is dead.* While PR certainly hasn’t “died” it sure has changed. Led mostly by the advent of social media, an overhaul of traditional media and an overall democratizing of information, PR has evolved. But what exactly has it evolved into? Can we still call it PR?
The old notion that PR is responsible for putting spin on a story that appears in the media is certainly dead. That job is more accurately called “crisis communications” now. Also, the idea that PR is responsible for controlling a story is dead. As Hubspot’s Brian Halligan pointed out last year, journalists have faster and easier ways to get information besides going through a PR person and the “public” no longer consists of just a handful of important media outlets (now, we have a broad spectrum of audiences and channels that need to be managed).
I think it’s interesting to see how PR is perceived in other places of the world, too. As Janette van Kalkeren writes on the PR Conversations blog, public relations as it’s practiced in Europe has origins in wartime propaganda, which led to a media-focused approach.
“However, the negative connotations from this heritage of propaganda led to different ways of representing public relations. For example, in the Netherlands it is often called ‘communicatie’ (communication); in Finland it goes under three different names: ‘ytheystoiminta’ (affiliation work), ‘viestintä’ (communication) and ‘sudetoiminta’ (relationship activity). In most European countries, the term ‘public relations’ is rarely used, making it hard to define the practice across the entire continent.”
So what does it mean to “do PR” now?
Yes, social media is a big part of our reality but it certainly isn’t a PR killer – it’s simply a new way of doing what we’ve done for years with traditional media targets: identifying audiences and influencers, engaging with them, and giving them reasons to continue engaging (or following or liking or whatever) with us. It also isn’t a replacement for traditional media – rather, the two can and should work together. PR professionals are also involved with online communities, although the job of managing a community is typically a separate duty.
PR professionals have always had a role in forming strategy, part of which entails listening and monitoring industry buzz, competitive news and customer feedback. Although we’ve always had tools and services to help gather and analyze the buzz, today’s tools are much more complex and capable and we’re more likely to hire a PR team member who can be dedicated to this job, especially if we are in a large organization.
Content creation is also a major responsibility for the PR professional and I will argue that telling your story has never been more important than it is today and there have never been so many mediums available for telling it. As an example, Eloqua, a forward-thinking marketing automation solutions provider, just hired a corporate reporter.
What do you think? Is Public Relations the right name for what we’re doing today?
*Blog posts about the health of PR:
Brian Halligan’s post on HubSpot Is PR Dead?
Norman Birnbach on Six Reasons PR is Not Dead Yet
3Point Communications’ blog post: 10 Public Relations-related Discussions I Could Live Without
Alison Kenney an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston’s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She writes a bi-monthly PR column on LindsayOlson.com. You can find her at www.kprcommunications.com. Learn more about Alison Kenney.
This is a post by Alison Kenney, PR columnist.
As PR pros we want our communications to resonate resoundingly, our brands to be strong and our communities to be vital. To achieve these goals, we hold brainstorming sessions, conduct marketplace research and surveys, monitor our industries and competitors and undertake SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analyses. But how many among us regularly incorporate cultural trends in our vision and PR planning?
In his book, Chief Culture Officer, Grant McCracken argues that every organization needs to thoroughly understand culture in order to succeed in the modern marketplace. Microsoft, for one (and not an insignificant one at that) is buying into McCracken’s premise: Dr. Mark Drapeau, Microsoft’s Director of U.S. Public Sector Social Engagement, agrees with McCracken that it’s important to have a “broad awareness of slow-paced cultural evolutions that can affect companies, and how to monitor them and incorporate them into planning.”
How do we develop that awareness of “slow-paced cultural evolutions”?
First, by monitoring cultural developments and identifying trends. Culture is driven by a very wide array of factors ranging from art, advertising, fashion and media to geopolitical factors, socio-economics, and global business issues to education, demographic and generation shifts, gender issues and much more. Take a look at this fascinating program for the WorldFuture 2010 conference that took place this past July in Boston to get a sense of the various cultural trends under watch.
Next, by considering how cultural trends could affect your brand. As an exercise, pick any cultural trend, e.g. Generation Y reaching adulthood or the ‘Going Green’ movement, and think of all the ways it could impact your job, your work, your company. What could your brand do to capitalize on the opportunities this trend presents? Trendwatching.com provides some excellent tips for tracking and applying trends.
Lastly, develop your own vision. This isn’t so much about having a crystal ball that can spot the “next big thing” but more of a sense of where the marketplace is heading – based on the values that are being revealed through cultural trends – and understanding how to capitalize on those trends. As 2010 rolls into its final months, it was fun to look back at this piece predicting food trends for this year.
Fortunately, there are as many sources for trend watching as there are trends to watch. So, get going, get watching and don’t forget to share your observations!
Alison Kenney an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston’s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She writes a bi-monthly PR column on LindsayOlson.com. You can find her at www.kprcommunications.com. Learn more about Alison Kenney.
This is a post by guest columnist, Alison Kenney.
I’ve blogged before about how content is king and I really believe this will become a major issue for marketers and PR pros in the future. The ability to create fresh, distributable content will soon become core to PR and communication plans.
To illustrate my point: Forrester Research recently announced that, while global adoption of social networking is still on the rise, content creation “experienced no substantial growth in the past year.” This “lack of growth in social creation translates into a lack of fresh ideas, content, and perspectives,” said Forrester Research Consumer Insights Analyst Jacqueline Anderson. “For example, one-third of online consumers in the US regularly watch user-generated videos on sites like YouTube. But, only 10 percent of US online consumers upload videos they’ve created to public sites. The traits required to create social content are unique, and at this moment, the consumer market interested in these behaviors has plateaued.”
While more and more people will be accessing social media to reach new content, fewer and fewer people will be creating that content, and thereby demand for social media content will increase.
This is a golden opportunity for PR professionals who are trained in promoting new ideas, changing the conversation, establishing brands, driving authenticity and attracting attention.
Are you fired up yet?
If so, visit these sites for more tips on creating content for social media:
HubSpot’s Blog Better with an Editorial Calendar and Style Bank
Social Media Today’s 40 Useful Things You Can Share on Twitter Besides Blog Posts
Ann Wylie’s Tipsheets on Writing, Communication
Blue Pencil Consulting’s Fight Writer’s Block with Talk
CopyBlogger’s Writing for the Social Media Everyman
Social Media Examiner’s 9 Ways to Use Social Media to Inspire Your Writing
USA Today There’s an Art to Writing on Facebook or Twitter – Really
Alison Kenney an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston’s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She writes a bi-monthly PR column on LindsayOlson.com. You can find her at www.kprcommunications.com. Learn more about Alison Kenney.
This is a post by guest columnist, Alison Kenney.
Barbara Ehrenreich continues to challenge the status quo in her newest book, Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America. In it she questions the very American trait of putting faith in the power of positive thinking. I’ve been a fan of Ehrenreich’s contrary viewpoint and ideological commitment since reading her bestseller Nickel & Dimed and wanted to see what she had to say in this book. The PR person in me was curious too – I mean what’s wrong with putting a positive spin on things?
It turns out, a lot is wrong with that approach.
In the first chapter, Ehrenreich uses her experience with breast cancer to advocate for questioning received wisdom and digging deeper for answers. She writes about her feelings of anger at being diagnosed with cancer, and simultaneously feeling that it is unacceptable to express that anger. She writes about the “pink ribbon” effect and the widely-repeated notion that breast cancer patients have received a gift, i.e. the cancer gives them a chance to see clearly and fully appreciate their lives, and also the belief among patients that a positive attitude will help them combat their disease, something that can’t be proven scientifically.
Ehrenreich also makes the argument that blind optimism prevents us from making the best decisions. If we focus on the positive, we may do so at the peril of ignoring potential threats and dangers and thereby taking precautions to avoid them. As she points out, “a chief of state does not want to hear a general in the field say that he hopes to win tomorrow’s battle or that he’s visualizing victory; he or she wants one whose plans include the possibility that things may go very badly, and fall-back positions in case they do.”
Ehrenreich’s book is interesting and nuanced; while a positive attitude can be a “good thing,” it shouldn’t trump all other perspectives. The lessons for PR professionals are:
Don’t be self-absorbed –The pursuit of happiness (or PR success) can lead to tunnel vision where we ignore real news and only focus on our self and our personal goals. By acknowledging competitors, preparing for hard questions and using that knowledge to strengthen your position, PR professionals can uncover new opportunities and prepare for market advantage.
Challenge authority — Ehrenreich recommends, “recruiting the observations of other” but cautions readers to avoid “groupthink,” i.e. the adoption and perpetuation of a false belief by a closed group of people despite mounting evidence against the false belief. Ehrenreich’s examples of groupthink gone wrong include the increased use of motivational speakers by corporations in order to pump up workforces demoralized by layoffs and convince both those let go and those remaining that their attitude, and not the relentless pursuit of corporate profit, was responsible for their plight. Ehrenreich also explores how certain Christian “prosperity” churches have gotten into the act, convincing their parishioners that God wants them to be rich and will help them get that way if they just show a little faith by giving money to the church. Her comments on how many of the devout poor were convinced the predatory mortgages they were being offered a few years back were a gift from God were particularly poignant. According to Ehrenreich the focus on individual power over destiny works against genuine social change in which people band together to make a real difference. While it can be tough for marketers to go against the grain, PR can be a very effective way to promote well-considered alternatives to popular trends.
Don’t be afraid to “go negative” –PR campaigns that point out negative aspects of your competitors can be risky – there’s a chance the effort will backfire and earn your competition a sympathy vote, but if your message is one that touches a real concern your audience holds, “going negative” can earn you respect as a voice of reason. For instance, this video from green cleaning product maker Method highlights the negative effects of using chemical cleaners, such as those from rivals like SC Johnson’s Scrubbing Bubbles product. It’s also pretty funny.
The practice of public relations is an exercise in promoting ideas – positive or not. Ehrenreich’s book adds a lesson in balance – learning to realistically assess both positive and negative outcomes to our choices — to the mix.
Alison Kenney an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston’s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She writes a bi-monthly PR column on LindsayOlson.com. You can find her at www.kprcommunications.com. Learn more about Alison Kenney.
This is a post by guest columnist, Alison Kenney.
We could talk for hours about the effect the Internet has had on public relations (how it has altered our media targets, changed our communication channels and the frequency of our communications, distorted our perception of what constitutes news, etc.), but one area that has been impacted greatly but hasn’t been talked about as much is the art of headline writing. Yes, PR pros write a lot of headlines — from the obvious, like press release headlines, to the more subtle, but equally important, like email subject lines. Blog posts, bylined articles, pitch letters, marketing brochures, tradeshow booth signs and even 140 character “headlines” on Twitter are also a big part of our work.
One major way the Internet has affected headline writing is with search engine optimization (SEO). Using the right keywords in a headline will make that piece easier for search engines to find, thus giving it more visibility on the web. But how do we balance the need to attract search engines with the need to attract human readers? CopyBlogger offers some great advice on using specific, niche keywords to attract both in this post in its Magnetic Headlines blog series.
Speaking of keywords, my friend Norman Birnbach thinks the use of the word ‘kill’ by copywriters over at Newsweek is, ahem, overkill in recent headlines.
As someone who has worked primarily in B2B public relations, where the emphasis in headline writing is on being factual and concise, I’ve struggled with writing more creative and attention-grabbing headlines. What worked for one audience, say a B2B technology firm, won’t fly with a different audience in the consumer retail industry. It’s important to know your audience before trying to write your headline.
Whatever audience you’re writing for, your headline should make an intriguing promise but also be credible so that readers will want to read more. For example, shifting a question that is important to your audience (“How do I write a good headline?”), into a strong statement (“How to write effective headlines”) will offer readers an intriguing reason to read the rest of the article. Adding more specific information (“Five Easy Changes to Make Your Headlines More Attractive to Customers”) gives the reader more information about what will be revealed in the rest of the text to know whether they want to continue reading.
Another tip from CopyBlogger is to study headlines that have been proven to work and to learn how they work. Brian Clark wrote on CopyBlogger that “if you understand how headlines work, you don’t need to try to write a homerun headline for every blog post. But you will end up writing snappier headlines off the top of your head, even for the more day-to-day mundane posts.”
Direct advertising headlines are great examples to learn from. They work if they get people to open their wallet and make a purchase. Along these lines, Dylan Boyd offers these guidelines for writing better email marketing subject lines:
- Don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment with length and characters
- If you want to grow a mature email program, spend considerable time and energy testing a variety of offers
- Avoid using your sender name as a repetitive part of the subject line, and personalize only where it makes sense
Headline writing is an important part of business writing and critical to getting your full message across. What are your tips for writing eye-catching headlines?
Alison Kenney an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston’s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She writes a bi-monthly PR column on LindsayOlson.com. You can find her at www.kprcommunications.com. Learn more about Alison Kenney.
This is a post by guest columnist, Alison Kenney.
It’s back to school time, and that has me thinking about PR courses and accreditation. Most of the PR professionals I know majored in English, Communications or another liberal arts degree. A few majored in Public Relations; even fewer have their masters in PR or Communications. Clearly, you don’t have to major in these subjects to work in the field. Many successful PR professionals switched gears or leveraged a degree in a different field.
PRSA’s Accreditation Program, the only certification program for our industry, is another story altogether. It’s a certification geared to those who’ve been working in the industry for some time as it judges your aptitude in various PR knowledge areas, e.g. research, planning, implementing and evaluating programs, ethics and law, etc. I know several PR professionals who received their APR, but overall fewer than 25 percent of PR practitioners are accredited.
Which leads me to wonder: is accreditation worth pursuing?
The PRSA stresses the importance of a national standard for legitimizing the profession and building accountability. Andy Beaupre, CEO of Beaupre & Co., agrees and blogged earlier this year on why PR accreditation makes more sense than ever. And, while there are no hard numbers that show professionals with the APR mark earn more than their non-accredited colleagues, survey results show that PR professionals find accreditation to be a source of pride (91%), a help in developing professional skills (78%), provide personal benefit (75%) and help resolve ethical dilemmas (58%). This blog from the PRSA member site underscores those reasons and highlights the satisfaction the writer got from earning her accreditation.
Others argue that an APR mark is not necessary as it only confirms the knowledge that can otherwise be ascertained by reviewing a PR practitioner’s work record. SHIFT Communications principal Todd Defren blogged several years ago that accreditation is not the solution to the PR industry’s perception problem and not the benchmark for demonstrating competency.
What do you think? If you have an APR, what made you pursue it? And has earning accreditation improved your career satisfaction? Please leave your comments below.
Alison Kenney an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston’s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She writes a bi-monthly PR column on LindsayOlson.com. You can find her at www.kprcommunications.com. Learn more about Alison Kenney.
This is a guest post by PR Columnist, Alison Kenney.
Changes in the media landscape and the growth of social media have altered the role of PR. Now, to a greater extent than ever before, many PR pros are tasked with the responsibility of producing and managing content.
If this sounds like something you’re dealing with, here are four tips to make your role as content developer and curator easier:
Tip #1: Plan Ahead
PR pros are used to working with editorial calendars, the published calendars of scheduled editorial features at given media organizations, and there’s no reason we can’t create our own calendars for planning blog topics (and their contributors), scheduling tweets, and planning video. Start with a goal in mind: how often do you want to publish your content? Then, determine what you’ll have to do, and when it will need to be done, to achieve that goal. Next, fill in the deliverables with ideas for content…more on that below.
Tip #2: Look for inspiration
A common exercise at blogger gatherings is to undertake a 30-day (or 60- or 90-day) blogging challenge, where each blogger commits to writing something every day for that period. The goal of the exercise is to establish good, consistent habits to keep the content flowing. I’ve seen blogger challenges that ask each blogger to write about certain topics on each day of the challenge, i.e. on day #1 everyone writes about where they find inspiration.
Tip #3: Find new life for the content you’ve already got
Social Media consultant Mack Collier says that over time, many bloggers have learned how to either repurpose existing content, or to create new content that can be distributed via multiple social channels. Collier points out that content can come from repurposing white papers, PowerPoint presentations, and questions submitted by customers. New content can easily be created with folks you see everyday – think of video interviews with company execs and customers and recording the goings-on at industry events.
Tip #4: Change it up
Does your creativity dry right up at the thought of writing a compelling introduction, several supporting points and a thought-provoking summary? A blog post doesn’t have to be in essay form every time. HubSpot’s Beth Dunn suggests using a Style Bank to spur creative blog entries.
What are your tips for keeping the content flowing?
Alison Kenney an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston’s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She writes a bi-monthly PR column on LindsayOlson.com. You can find her at www.kprcommunications.com. Learn more about Alison Kenney.
This is a guest post by PR Columnist, Alison Kenney.
In last week’s season opener of the AMC series Mad Men, Peggy Olson tells Don Draper “we’re all here because of you.” The episode also shows Don’s struggle with revealing his personality – he blows a profile opportunity with AdAge before getting a second try at answering the question, “who is Don Draper?” with the Wall Street Journal. And, not only does Don shy away from revealing his personality to the public, he also tries to quaff his support staff’s attempts at defining the company (by disparaging Pete Campbell’s attempt to portray the agency as a scrappy start-up and by calling Peggy’s guerilla PR tactic a ‘shenanigan’).
Whether you work for a global PR firm, a boutique agency, your own solo practice or part of an in-house department, chances are you’ve come across PR ‘personalities.’
How important is it to have a recognizable personality behind your business?
First of all, having a recognizable personality behind your PR brand (recognizable in a good way, that is) can help attract business. Publicizing agency leadership is a form of in-bound marketing in that it helps prospective clients understand who they’ll be working with and what they’ll be buying before-hand. Anyone looking for a job will have heard how important it is to demonstrate their expertise through social media – by answering questions on LinkedIn, writing an original blog or posting comments to another widely-read blog, maintaining a web site and developing a following on Twitter. “Sharing your expertise publicly is a way of promoting yourself” tweeted Kellye Crane (@kellyecrane and @soloPR) when this topic came up on a recent #soloPR Twitter chat. “It’s also a way to practice what you preach and demonstrate that you know how to build an effective brand and reputation,” added another #soloPR chatter.
It can also help up-sell. The bigger the personality, the more valuable the counsel that person provides and the more you can charge for it. Anyone who has worked on the agency side of the PR business knows that the firm’s most senior leaders charge astronomically high billing rates when they are involved with client work.
Some clients and business partners are willing to pay higher rates for a big personality because they sense they’re getting more than just PR counsel for their dollars. I call it a rain-maker mentality — in which buyers think they’re also purchasing the services of someone who has valuable connections and is business savvy.
What do you think? Do you work with a PR personality? Do you cultivate your own professional personality?
Alison Kenney an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston’s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She writes a bi-monthly PR column on LindsayOlson.com. Learn more about Alison Kenney.
This is a guest post by Alison Kenney.
Working a part-time schedule is attractive for many reasons and PR is an industry that lends itself to flexible schedules. Or is it?
On the plus side:
Part-time can equate to freelance status in PR which can be more lucrative than salaried work – although non-salaried workers don’t receive benefits through their employer, they typically charge an hourly rate or project fee that equates to more money per hour than what their salaried counterparts earn. See my previous blog and the reader comments about tips for solo PR practitioners if you’re curious about how to make a freelance career work.
Working part-time can be a good way for older workers to ease out of demanding schedules and prepare for retirement — staying employed, even part-time, enables older workers to continue to accumulate savings (through income and employer contributions) and to postpone paying retirement expenses (like contributions to health insurance). A recent report from the Employment Benefit Research Institute says that part-time employment is a growing trend among older workers.
Some parts of PR work can be done anytime, anywhere – non-urgent PR work, such as building a media list or editorial calendar or writing executive bios or materials for a web site, don’t necessarily need to get done during certain hours of the day.
Technology makes it easy to stay connected and accessible – as long as you have access to the internet and a phone you can probably accomplish 90 percent of the PR work you need to do. Skype and other video conferencing tools have made it even easier and more acceptable for people to work remotely. Why is this important? First, more people working remotely blurs the lines around work schedules which makes working part-time more acceptable, i.e. it becomes lumped in with other flexible work arrangements. Second, it’s often assumed that if you work a part-time schedule you’ll be able to check in after-hours and be accessible if something urgent comes up and technology makes this possible.
On the negative side:
The opportunistic nature of PR makes it hard to predict that your job can be accomplished during a set time of day – many PR duties are deadline driven or arise suddenly – such as responding to a competitor’s news, handling communication during a crisis and responding to a reporter who is on deadline – and therefore require PR staff who are available around the clock, or at least during traditional office hours.
PR is a service-driven practice – PR is often perceived as a service business. If you work at an agency, you service external clients. Even if you work in-house you are servicing other functions of the company, such as supporting the sales team, collaborating with HR and furthering the executive management team’s agenda. Depending on their needs and expectations for your services, these clients may not want to accommodate your part-time schedule.
It can be difficult to land a part-time position – As Lindsay can attest, most career positions are not recruiting part-time candidates. I would hazard a guess that many part-time PR employees negotiated their hours after working full-time for that employer and building up a positive track record. That’s not to say that part-time jobs don’t exist or aren’t advertised – but they are outnumbered by full-time opportunities.
What do you think? Is PR the right field for workers who want part-time hours?
Alison Kenney an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston’s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She writes a bi-monthly PR column on LindsayOlson.com. Learn more about Alison Kenney.
This blog is to share my recruiting experiences and discuss thoughts on the job market, PR industry and technology.
Alison Kenney is an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience.
