Commentary

Who Knows Better Than The Pope How The Vatican Should Tweet?

Interesting to see Lord Patten is soon to join a team of eleven Vatican and lay media experts to advise the Pope on how to handle modern media. The committee itself is interesting, but then so too is Patten's decision to join it having only recently told the BBC, The Guardian reports, that he would not be returning after heart surgery because he needs to reduce the number of roles he undertakes.

I was fortunate enough to recently see the man dubbed "the Pope's webmaster," Mons. Lucio Adrian Ruiz, speak in London. In one jovial exchange with a session moderator he quipped what could probably sum up the Vatican's Web strategy -- "new channel, same message." He exuded the joy and love which he sums up as the message Pope Francis has asked him to convey on the Web and in social media.

I very recently visited the Vatican with my wife, and until you actually go there and see the queues to get in and witness the vast number of nationalities of laypeople and those in church uniform, you have no idea how strong an organisation it truly is. 

The lucky thing is, it shares a coincidence with the current Prime Minister. The new Pope came into a Papacy rocked by scandal, while the new Prime Minister came into a country racked with debt. Fortunately, the church knows all about asking for forgiveness and the Tory party knows all about making cuts and slimming down the size of the state.

So, my first reaction to hearing the Pope was putting together a committee of eleven to advise on media was that it is a very positive step. My one caution would be summed up in a recent conversation a pal had had with a colleague about a very well-known brand, which was relayed to me in a very third-hand way.

The brand I won't mention, but you will definitely know it -- has a massive following in social media and so appointed some bright young things to manage its channels. Of course, this effectively relies on the brand to come up with some cracking strategy, lots of great content and insight in to what is being well received by the public. The clever things sit in the meeting and then hit "send." I know there are some very gifted social media "gurus" out there, but I also know there are a lot who do the social equivalent of the old joke about consultants looking at the client's watch and then charging to tell them the time.

So, the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church don't exactly have an awareness problem. What they do have is some criticism they have themselves seen as completely justifiable. In just over a year, however, Pope Francis has commissioned independent fraud and money laundering experts to comb through the Vatican bank's accounts -- The Guardian reports that thousands have been shut down -- and issued a profuse apology over previous inaction over child abuse accusations with a promise to investigate cover ups. Ironically, the Pope and the Prime Minster would appear to have that in common too.

So, while asking advice is always good, my advice to the Pope is exactly the same as my advice to any brand.

First off, hold your hands up when you're wrong and apologise. Don't hide away and don't partially apologise hoping the whole issue won't come out. The Vatican appears to be doing this with its finances and highly questionable past reaction to claims of abuse.

Secondly, don't assume a third party knows you better than you do. Don't pay someone thousands to cite a few power words - we need to be more "decisive" and "cross-channel," etc. -- unless it's backed up by action.

Most importantly, never pay a group of third party people to just hit "send" or "post." 

Throw yourself into social media -- but don't forget you're already most likely to be the people for the job. 

If it were me, I'd get the aforementioned Ruiz to send out daily prayers and nuggets of wisdom, along with stories of the genuine good work religious people do in their localities. Joy and love -- how about those for power words to build a strategy on?

And while you're at it, a mobile app that sells same day tickets for the Vatican Museum should go on the "to do" list too.
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