Thanks to @cateahoy for bringing this to our attention. It made us squirm and laugh in equal measure and now we’re asking the same question as everyone else….just who is The Grand Speculator and why have they created the Manchester Northern Quarter Anthem?
Answers on an iphone Polaroid app picture to Nathan Barley please…
Either way it’s enjoyed nearly 3m views on YouTube already and is sure to spawn more memes. Watch this space.
We’ve said it for some time, but setting up a Facebook fan page or group only to do nothing with it is a complete waste of time. The potential to engage directly with your customers and clients has never been greater, either subtly via guerrilla marketing and social media campaigns or, as is becoming increasingly prominent, through direct, company focused contact.
According to digital consultancy Beyond, almost a quarter of consumers would prefer to receive information from brands via Facebook as oppose to a company’s own website. It’s understandable this trend has emerged as we enter an era in which people choose what to receive, how and where. By allowing fans and group members to access key information without leaving the sanctity of Facebook you make less demands on potential customers, giving them no reason not to read on.
And it doesn’t stop there. Google may still rule the internet search roost, but experts are predicting change on the horizon. The public has noticed that businesses are increasingly engaged pro-actively with social media, and the response looks set to re-write the rules of online searching.
As Joanna Shields, VP EMEA of Facebook said, social media is positioned to overtake traditional search in the digital marketing world. With more people looking for products, services and brands while writing wall posts and Tweets, the time is right to get serious about professional social media based marketing, public relations, advertising and branding to help you take advantage of the rapidly changing world around us.
Consumer habits online are changing apace and it’s our great challenge to keep ahead of them and understand how best to advise and clients to harness the opportunities. Exciting times!
The stats have been studied and the unique users counted. Our media-analysing friends at Hitwise have compiled a list of the 10 most visited entertainment sites open to UK internet users, as of the week ending September 11th.
With unusual entries and obvious names on the list it’s a mixed bunch that touches on gambling, film, TV and more. Have a read and let us know if you’re as surprised as we were not to to see Facebook or Twitter here, begging the question ‘what constitutes an entertainment website’?
1. You Tube- The original video platform continues to have Britain broadcasting itself, hosting works of amateur genius and appalling self indulgence alike.
2. BBC Homepage- Auntie’s online HQ remains the country’s most popular source of information on everything from celebrity scandals to politics.
3. BBC iPlayer- The first of the major TV on demand sites makes it impossible to miss any of the Beeb’s leading shows… for better, or worse.
4. SKY Sports- Though the leading subscription-TV service has removed its sports news from Freeview plenty of people continue to visit the site for free.
5. BBC Weather- Proof, if any were needed, that the UK’s oldest broadcaster still has a reputation for reliability, despite our unpredictable climate.
6. The National Lottery- More than just the numbers, with a host of online games and big money prizes it’s understandable why this URL is so popular.
7. SKY News- While trying to escape the monolithic BBC Britons voted with their mice, making SKY’s newsroom the second most prominent in cyberspace.
8. Flickr- There’s no shortage of photographic focused websites showing off the best in hobbyists and professional work, but this is by far the best.
9. Channel 4- Arguably the best commercial TV network in the country rightly earns itself a place amongst the most visited of all entertainment websites.
10. The Internet Movie Database- Looking for any fact related to any film ever made? By bookmarking IMDB you’ll never struggle with trivia again.
Part hotel, part serviced apartment, each Roomzzz really is a hotel apart. Now the UK’s foremost progressive and innovative hospitality specialist is working with Smoking Gun PR, Manchester’s equally progressive and innovative consumer public relations agency.
Roomzzz has combined all that is great about boutique hotels and serviced apartments to open three luxury hotels; two in Leeds and one in Manchester. By offering an opulent ‘home away from home’ experience, these Aparthotels are perfectly tailored for business trips and city breaks. Thankfully we’re able to provide them with a bespoke PR solution to match, created by our marketing communications specialists.
The company is undergoing significant expansion and has brought in our public relations expertise to help build brand awareness at this crucial time. The PR campaign will focus on creating news stories, securing media visits and building a social media profile for Roomzzz. Together we’ll get the right people talking about these innovative UK hotels, and our forward thinking marketing strategies.
Mark Walton, Head of Brand & Franchising at Roomzzz commented:
“As one of the most progressive and innovative hospitality providers, we have appointed Smoking Gun to assist in our plan to enhance our market profile and execute strategic growth in order to establish our position as the premier Aparthotel brand within the UK. The experience within the sector that Smoking Gun brings will allow us to meet our expansion targets, whilst continuing to develop our brand and reputation.”
Rick Guttridge, MD at Smoking Gun PR adds:
“Travel and leisure are key areas of expertise and interest for us and Roomzzz is another challenger brand we’re looking forward to helping grow with some innovative marketing and public relations tactics.”
Graeme Anthony has shown immense resourcefulness to create the ultimate honey pot of social media, genuine buzz on forums, blogs, Twitter and thousands of views to his online video in one day. The topic of this hullabaloo is Graeme himself or rather his search for a job.
Having decided to move on from Brazen seeking a fresh challenge but with no job in place, he set about freelancing and he and his partner made the decision to move to London. He knew he had to do something very different to stand out in his job search.
Working with another talented young friend Dan they concocted this whole concept and execution in a day.
We receive many CV’s and get sick of the badly written, incorrectly addressed, non personalised and even underpaid postage efforts. Watch this to see how to do it with aplomb. It’s not perfect but it walks the talk and creates instant interest and leaves the viewer wanting to know more about what he can do – surely the number one objective from any CV?
So London PR bosses, watch the video, check out his blog and then drop him a job offer to graeme.anthony@hotmail.co.uk, you won’t be disappointed.
To see the buzz search Twitter for @comms_anarchist and read what PR week had to say here
ps In the interests of transparency I admit I have a slight vested interest in this story. I hired Graeme or ‘Big G’ as he is affectionately known, into his last job and we worked together for around three years where his hard work and willingness to learn was always apparent. This isn’t just a ‘love in’ however. We had plenty of disagreements and the odd heated word exchanged but we remain in regular contact and I was privileged to get a sneak preview of the video ahead of launch. Good luck G you deserve it.
Smoking Gun team member and trainee cheese maker Ben Ormsby gets to grips with a Blacksticks Blue truckle
We’ve had a busy summer for pitches and we were delighted to win two new food accounts – Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses and Greenhalgh’s Craft Bakery Ltd. Both are north-west, family-owned, artisan food companies and so were looking for a north west PR agency to present them.
Butler’s Farmhouse Cheeses, based in Lancashire, is looking to drive media coverage following a rebrand. Its multi-award winning Blacksticks range has been brought under the Butler’s brand to make a clear link for consumers between the family and its famous cheese. The team here will focus on securing media coverage in the key sales period of November and December.
We are also going to help Butlers Cheeses branch out for the first time into social media. A blog has just gone live, to allow the Butler’s family to keep their loyal customer base up to date with events at the farms and dairies – watch this space for news of cow-cam!
Greenhalgh’s Craft Bakery has brought us on board to handle consumer communications. The family company aims to support its newly established Liverpool branches, which face competition from established players in a popular field. Local, tactical activity to drive footfall, combined with national news grabbing stunts will raise brand awareness across both Merseyside and the UK.
The whole team here loves food and drink, so it’s especially pleasing to add two such tasty clients to our roster. We’ve already noticed an increase for requests in meetings at our offices as other clients and partners are hoping for some gastronomic goodies!
