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Archive for September, 2011

The Blagger’s Blog 30th September 2011

Friday, September 30th, 2011

A weekly roundup of talking points, sans effort

Worth the paper it’s printed on?

Last week’s PR success stories included…

… Zara Phillips visiting New Zealand to see husband Mike Tindall following the ‘blonde in a bar’ incident, which took up 77 stories, whereas the sustained violence in Lebanon which killed dozens and injured hundreds only appeared in 67 headlines…

… REM splitting following a 31-year musical career, an event that featured in 16 articles, yet when the US abandoned its ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ military policy only 15 pieces ran…

…. and finally, X Factor USA making its debut, with 26 stories published, the same amount that reported on New International offering a multi-million pound settlement to the Dowler family over alleged phone hacking.

(Source: Journalisted)

Weekly high

Sometimes all that’s needed to create a funny advert is for someone to take a situation we’re all used to, and give it a rather unexpected twist. For proof that this simple formula works this week we bring you this gem, made for Fed Ex by BBDO Guerrero in the Philippines. An amusing work, it also answers that age old question; ‘in the event of a zombie-virus spreading across the world, who will make all the deliveries?’

Weekly low

Last week it was revealed that Mark Davidson (@markdavidson), a well followed tweeting type based in Orange County, California, had made a series of huge mistakes. Firstly, he had been employing ‘ghost writers’ to create 140 character messages for him. Secondly, he then fired one of the individuals managing his profile. Finally, he didn’t change the password. A few drinks later and the rejected staff member was letting the world know with statements like these:

Battle of the tweets: Manchester vs London vs Houston

Top Manchester #tags (seven days to 30/9/2011)

#mufc #xfactor

#mcfc #towie

#tevez #bbuk

#f1    #essex

#manchester #thingspeopledothatgetmemad

So much like last week and in fact the last seven weeks there are two dominent topics of conversation in Manchester. However football and X Factor have competition as the third season of The Only Way is Essex has arrived. One of the key events to shake the city has been the actions of Carlos Tevez and his refusal to play in Manchester City’s Champions League clash on Tuesday and it is clearly a topic that fans from both sides of the city are discussing the players actions.

One to watch: rioferdy5 (Rio Ferdinand- Premiership Footballer; 1,513,265 followers /7,516 updates)

Top London #tags (seven days to 30/9/2011)

#towie #lab11

#arsenal #f1

#mufc #thingspeopledothatgetmemad

#that1friend #mcfc

#bbuk

The beautiful game seems to be the uniting factor in the country at the moment with it once again transcending regions and appearing in both lists. However down in the ‘big smoke’ of London aside from sport the next  hot topic appears to be politics with Labours 2011 party conference providing key talking points once again alongside the state of the relations between Mark Wright & Lauren Goodger in The Only Way is Essex.

One to watch: indiaknight (India Knight- Sunday Times columnist; 50,438 followers /44,612 updates)

Top Houston #tags (seven days to 30/9/2011)

#thatoneex #texans

#that1friend #houston

#saints #nf

#thingspeopledothatgetmemad

H-Town much like London & Manchester is shouting loudest about sport however soccer is replaced with American Football as the NFL season is in it’s opening few weeks. The Houston Texans and their most recent opponents (New Orleans Saints) both make the cut. While both England and America are tweeting the love they have for that one friend and expressing what really gets them mad!

One to watch: prosperitygal (Michele Price- PR & social media for literary talent; 33,106 followers /93,214 updates)

That was The Blagger’s Blog, a selection of statements, statistics and noteworthy newsies from across the media and social world, amalgamated, allowing the time-starved professional to start a conversation from thin air.

If there is a success story, blunder, or tweeting town you’d like to see included email hello@smokinggunpr.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!

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Huge Facebook changes afoot

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

So half of the United Kingdom has an account, with a good chunk of the world also posting status updates via the social network. But such exponential success can’t be sustained, can it?

Facebook, or, perhaps more accurately, Mark Zuckerberg, seems to think it can. After all, a company doesn’t announce a huge overhaul and introduce wholesale changes if it doesn’t want to retain its industry dominance, or build on that which has already been established. And with key regions such as Africa and Eastern Europe seeing internet access grow at a remarkable rate it’s not hard to see why the social network has a realistic chance of bagging a few hundred million more users over the next couple of years.

On Thursday September 22nd the f8 Conference took place, at which several comprehensive changes set to take place on Facebook were announced. The largest of which, Timeline, turns your profile into something that resembles more of a blog site, with a banner image and headline of your choosing, along with individual click through boxes to guide visitors through your history, images, updates and online activity. But it doesn’t end there.

The idea is that Timeline allows users to create a comprehensive life story, pre-dating Facebook and the opening of their individual account. Needless to say by promoting people to upload even more personal information the privacy police have been up in arms again, though that issue to one side we say the whole redesign, an example of which is picture above, looks nice and clean, something no doubt made imperative by a the launch of a recent, well-designed rival network. Confused? Check out this video for a more in depth explanation.

Secondly a whole new approach is being taken towards apps. This means that what started off as a simple update to inform you Mr X had just achieved a perfect irrigation score on his imagined pasture is set to take off in a huge way, in no small part thanks to integration with the likes of music discovery service Spotify, and streaming TV channels Hulu and Netflix, so now you can learn about new artists and shows by listening with your friends. Still looking for more clarification? Again we’ve embedded the following video to shed some more light, so take a look and see what you think for yourself. This also feeds into a concept being labelled ‘Patterns‘, whereby actions like jogging, going to a bar, or watching a movie are automatically added to your timeline to give people a continually updated summary of yourself. Just What difference these changes will make remains to be seen, though one thing is for sure, this news is clear evidence that Facebook takes the Google+ threat very seriously indeed.

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Infographic – The ROI of Social Media

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

As a PR agency we’re used to clients asking us what the ROI (Return on Investment) is for the work we carry out, whether in traditional media or in social media. So today’s handy inforgraphic comes from MDG Advertising and explores how social media has ripped up the ROI rule book by yielding what are described as “a host of intangible benefits”.

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Smoking Gun MD Rick Guttridge pays his last respects to a dying PR industry

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

The writing was on the wall years ago, and it’s too late now for those that didn’t take action then. Public relations has had its day, advertising and marketing too, but that’s fine by me, so read on to find out why you shouldn’t care either.

In Britain social networks are more popular than news and magazine websites, and social networking is our favourite online activity. Yes, even ahead of pornography and shopping. Media, or more accurately progressive media, and the way in which it’s consumed, is now unrecognisable compared with half a decade ago. And anyone who’s heard about PR mogul Mark Borkowski’s new agency will know what that means for public relations.

After running his own firm for 24 years the revered publicist moved to set up Borkowski.do this summer. Employing professionals from a wide skillset brands are serviced with truly integrated campaigns that engage communities online, on the street, and through the media thanks to well strategised delivery of highly specialised content across all platforms, from Facebook to prime time TV.

Gollin Harris, another respected international PR firm, has also rejected traditionalism. Talented staff from varied backgrounds are now divided into four ‘communities’, each concentrating on a niche area of a client’s overall account; planning for the future, connecting with audiences, creating content or overseeing the integration of all three. And it’s likely new roles and job areas will be introduced in the future as demand grows for campaigns that require minds from even more disciplines.

Great storytelling has always been central to great public relations. But the difference is now there’s no telling what can happen once Joe Public gets his status updates into your carefully honed key messages. As such the emphasis must be placed not just on the context within which content is published or publicised, but also the consistency, creativity, and coherency of a message across all media, social, traditional or other. With that in mind, and a nod of respect to the old guard generalists, it’s time to embrace this specialist future of niche thinkers.

Because in an age where standing still always means falling behind it’s vitally important to understand that we’ve changed the way we think, the way we operate, and the skillset we require from our staff. The end result is that PR jobseekers should be increasingly aware that a degree in public relations may not be the best route to industry success. PR is dead, long live storytelling.

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How to… blog (properly)

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

60% of global companies know they need one, but very few understand why. Read our basic guide to making weblogs work for you and get the upper hand.

With a good quality blog three things should happen. Readers return to your webspace because they can trust and rely on the information it provides, Google has to constantly revisit the site to categorise new content, and other sites start linking in, referring their audience to your writing.

In each instance your company’s position in the search engine results pages will increase, making sure more potential clients and customers can find your business online than ever before. On top of this ever increasing numbers of journalists are sourcing stories, quotes and statistics from reputable industry blogs, so the benefits should now be perfectly clear.

But maintaining a successful blog requires a lot of effort, and there are no easy options or quick fix solutions. That’s why the best advice we can offer is to employ seasoned experts. If you’re not quite ready to take the full plunge yet though here are some key pointers to ensure the time you initially commit is not for nought.

Choose your weapon wisely

The three most popular blog platforms are Blogger, Tumblr and WordPress. None are perfect. Blogger restricts individuality with its own branding, meanwhile Tumblr only offers very basic editing options. In contrast WordPress gets our vote, because while suffering from some bugs it has more bespoke and in depth features, which is why millions of professional websites are built based on the open source code.  On top of this always make sure you set up Google analytics to track your successes and failures on the blog site, and throughout the various social networks you use.

Preparation, preparation, preparation

Starting with the basics first realise content needs to go beyond your brand’s achievements. Next organise an editorial calendar so you can structure regular posts to develop a following. News, by nature, cannot be predicted so allow additional time to post ad hoc stories about current events too, but by signing up for relevant RSS feeds, newsletters, and forums keeping up to date is far easier.

Comment is free, and valuable

The Huffington Post didn’t become one of the most popular English-speaking news sites in the world because the writers were shy. A good blog should get people commenting, linking in, and reposting on social media. The best way to make this happen is to become a source of trusted information through factual news, but also include well-researched opinion pieces to make people sit up, and share.

Enrich your content

It seems like the most basic of points to make, but we’re still amazed by how many companies don’t harness all the functionality these modern times offer. Embed videos and stunning images, source audio streams, and network to open doors for notable guests from external brands to blog, securing priceless linking relationships. On top of this think engagement, so if someone comments respond accordingly.

All roads lead to your blog

Blogs showcase whole of market knowledge. They also create constantly updated webpages to improve search rankings. After getting up and running in an attempt to climb the results pages it goes without saying all this content needs to be integrated with your newsletter, embedded within your LinkedIn profile and email signature, and shared across all your social media profiles. Likewise the blog needs to let your readers do the same via subscriptions, RSS feeds, and sharing buttons.

If at first you don’t succeed…

…try and try again. Analyse click throughs from social media, and the visibility of your keywords in search results. Take this raw data and apply it within your blog. Everything from when you make regular, column style posts to your SEO tactics should be open for discussion. Furthermore experiment with image sizes, position on the page, fonts and layouts to create the most effective blog for your target readership, remembering never to get stuck in your old ways.

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A wallet in your phone

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Thinking of using QR codes for a campaign? Don’t, try a wallet in your phone instead.

For those that don’t scour technology websites we’d like to introduce near-field communication. Or, more appropriately, the invention we’ll all be getting to know very well over the next couple of years- the NFC chip. They say it will change everything. OK, so maybe not quite everything, but still even when you ignore the hyperbole current predictions and statistics make it difficult not to be impressed.

Already some 70,000 bars, shops and restaurants in the UK have NFC technology installed, and one in six mobile phone models will come equipped with NFC as standard by 2014, which equates to around 950million global subscribers. So then, what exactly is it, and why does it mean the end for the QR code?

Cutting to the chase, the QR code has been around for a while. A type of barcode, when scanned by a mobile phone camera with a reader app information is transmitted to the device, be that details of an event, a promotional offer, food sell-by date, business data… whatever, it doesn’t matter.

Obviously marketing folk were interested in the potential, and Asia embraced the technology with open arms. The UK, on the other hand, was slower to get involved, and campaigns have, on the whole, been less prominent. Then Google stopped supporting QR on Places, and started getting people familiar with NFC chips. So now the likes of Samsung and Nexus have begun building them into Android phones, for a few good reasons.

Near field communication allows information to be transmitted wirelessly. That means while QR codes took time to scan, and had to have a reader installed on the device, NFC chips do it all automatically, taking almost no time at all to perform the same task- just hold the phone near whatever you want to read.

And there’s also a lot more to the story. Because this is the most likely way that our mobile phones could replace debit and credit cards, allowing people to pay in shops wirelessly. The iPhone 5 is rumoured to include the feature, and both Google and Apple are said to be ‘interested’ in payment via mobile technology.

While being slightly more far fetched boffins have already mused on numerous other potential uses for NFC too, ranging from door keys and passports, to helping analyse the fat content of a frozen meal, or judging the quality of a restaurant by instantly finding online reviews. Needless to say, the possibilities are almost endless, not least in the world of advertising, marketing and PR. Just what impact this will have in Britain is impossible to say, but with such little effort required on the part of the mobile phone user it’s difficult not to see it taking off, again proving why smartphones are arguably the most important technology we have today.

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September’s notes from the office diary

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Despite summer vanishing there’s a buzz around Smoking Gun HQ this month. So here’s the latest on our new staff, clients and free industry information.

First up, while still settling in to our new address, we have welcomed another highly experienced PR face to the team. Carolanne Bamford joins us after a spell in London with international communications consultancy Hill & Knowlton, bringing even more big industry experience to our ever-burgeoning enterprise. Along with expertise in digital strategy Carolanne boasts razor sharp observational skills- just take a look at her evaluation of Jordan’s new publication, Katy- My Magazine.

And now every Wednesday there’s another reason to head for the Smoking Gun blog, as we’ll be posting our weekly infographic. Bringing you a fascinating overview of today’s talking points via easy to digest imagery, so far everything from the first statistics on Google+ and a guide on how to build the perfect LinkedIn profile, to advice on job hunting via social media has been covered.

On to new business, and we’re proud to announce our team will now be representing technology firm Martin Dawes. With a fully integrated campaign designed to push the specialist audio-visual communications arm of the business the latest brand to join our retail PR client list presents a fresh set of challenges. As such we can’t wait to start providing proof of how our digitally-minded PR expertise can help bolster the company’s reputation.

And that’s not all, as we’re currently dotting the is and crossing the ts on contracts with two international brands, so more news to follow regarding those next month. It’s also nice to know all this hard work isn’t going unnoticed, as we’ve been shortlisted for another two illustrious accolades. This time it’s the CIPR PRide awards, so we’ll be attending our North West regional dinner, hoping to pick up the title of Outstanding Small Consultancy, and Best Use of Social Media for Panda Liquorice.

We are, of course, delighted to be working with Panda, and this is the second nomination we’ve received recently as a result of our efforts. By way of celebrating the success of this ongoing relationship we’d like to share the love a little, so make a comment on our Facebook Page explaining why we should pick you for a chance of receiving a healthy supply of delicious liquorice, delivered directly to your office. Witty one liners at the ready then.

Aside from all this we have, as per usual, been at some of the most noteworthy dates in Manchester’s recent diary. So that’s the exclusive opening of the new pop up bowling alley outside our Spinningfields office, the Social Media Cafe, Arcade Fire at the MEN, and more live music inside Pretty Green. But don’t worry if you didn’t make it to any of these, October’s looking equally busy so hopefully we’ll see you about town over the next few weeks.

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News In Tweets September 2011

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

22nd September – Mark Zuckerberg announces Facebook will change forever

67% more leads are generated every month by companies with a blog

2014 is the year in which video is expected to account for 90% of all online traffic

4.9million users connected to public Wi-Fi hotspots in the last year

$3.08billion will be spent on social networks by US advertisers during 2011

Social media is directly connected with riots in the UK, and revolutions abroad

Phone hacking scandal proves to be great news for Sunday papers

Smoking Gun PR and Madhouse Associates appointed by Verdo Renewables

Boston Globe to pioneer new dual website format

National Business Awards and Some Comms shortlist Smoking Gun campaigns

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The Microsoft money pit

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

As a business owner what would you do if a department was losing the company a rather worrying $1bn per quarter, with a total negative balance sheet of $5bn since inception in 2009? Would you decide to do away with the associated staff altogether, downsize the team, or find new, profitable roles for the people currently costing so much corporate cash?

Well if you’re Bill Gates and his trusted team of boardroom types the answer is to do absolutely nothing. Last week it was announced that Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, has been costing the technology giant roughly $1bn per quarter, a situation that can continue indefinitely. The firm has such healthy funds saved up that this figure, while being no doubt halfway towards the GDP of some small island-states, is actually small change, and isn’t really impacting on the health of the business, a point proven by the fact shareholders have just been informed about a 25% boost to dividends.

Of course it’s not that Microsoft doesn’t want to increase the market share of Bing. And reports are already pointing to how this could be achieved, primarily through focusing on corners of the web Google has either forgotten about, overlooked, or failed to tap into successfully, with examples including the use of Bing as Yahoo’s search engine, in the Windows mobile OS, and integrated within location based apps and services. However, as Neowin.net reported after CNN broke the news surrounding this seemingly never ending money pit, in order to stop haemorrhaging money Bing needs to double its market share, and overcome the fact Google is a verb and a noun, meaning like a Tannoy PA system, the very action of web searching is intrinsically linked with the world’s number one search tool. Whether the ‘global underdog’ manages to achieve this challenging goal remains to be seen, but with the promise of ‘ongoing experimentation’ the forthcoming attempts to claw back user numbers should make for an interesting spectator sport, if nothing else.

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The Blagger’s Blog 23rd September 2011

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

A weekly roundup of talking points, sans effort

Worth the paper it’s printed on?

Last week’s PR success stories included…

… London Fashion Week, which grabbed 86 headlines, whereas the appointment of Bernard Hogan Howe as the new Met Police Chief only appeared in 71 articles…

… Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy premiering, with 54 journalists reporting on the event, while former IMF head Dominique Strauss Kahn broke silence on the allegations he sexually assaulted a hotel maid by admitting to a ‘moral failing’, and only 31 stories appeared…

…. and finally, Novak Djokovic winning the US Open, resulting in 58 articles running, one more than focused on David Cameron and Nicholas Sarkozy’s trip to Tripoli.

(Source: Journalisted)

Weekly high

This is what you get by combining glamour model Rhian Sugden and testicular cancer. The following video was created for the Male Cancer Awareness Campaign by JWT London, and grabs your attention for a couple of reasons from the word go, then turns into something slightly disturbing, before hitting home with a common sense message that’s guaranteed to stay with you, even if it is just because of the scantily clad focal point.

Weekly low

X Factor made the extremely bad decision to allow Ceri Rees, a tone deaf woman with mental problems, to audition for a fourth time in six years. She was rejected, with her audition lasting around one sixth of the entire show. Later accusations came from a close friend of the failed hopeful that producers from the reality show had invited her back purely for ratings, appalling everyone from mental health charities to Richard Madeley.

Battle of the tweets: Manchester vs London vs Sheffield

Top Manchester #tags (seven days to 23/9/2011)

#mufc #xfactor

#mcfc #arsenal

#bbuk #motd

#cfc

If Twitter be a window on society then we’re not entirely sure how to comment on the fact that, for the sixth consecutive week, only two topics can be seen as dominant in Manchester. X Factor remains the most popular thing on Earth, ever, though given Ceri Rees-gate that might be about to change (slightly), and even if that happens football will always hold firm, and this week it’s mainly been Man United 3, Chelsea 1… Tottenham Hotspur 4, Liverpool 0.

One to watch: benhibbs (Ben Hibbs- Writer / Journalist; 12,062 followers / 8,931 updates)

Top London #tags (seven days to 23/9/2011)

#xfactor #lfw

#arsenal #mufc

#lfc #cfc

#afc #rwc2011

#lifewouldbebetter

The Premiership is obviously as high on the agenda in Britain’s capital as it is up north, though there’s a little more acknowledgement here that Arsenal’s loss to Blackburn was significant for both teams. Refreshingly, for none sporting types, people in London have also been listing how things could be improved, meanwhile the glamourous behemoth that is London Fashion Week was obviously the talk of town’s high society.

One to watch: sbtvonline (SB.TV- The UK’s leading youth broadcaster; 42,221 followers / 50,409 updates)

Top Sheffield #tags (seven days to 23/9/2011)

#swfc #xfactor

#motel #madeinchelsea

#arsenal #rwc2011

#downtonabbey #mufc

#sufc

It might just be that in a Steel City with a smaller population than Manchester or London quieter voices shout louder, or half the population of Yorkshire’s second largest town may actually have been watching filthy rich docusoaps and period dramas all week. Either way Downton Abbey, ITV’s Victorian series, and Made In Chelsea, the reality TV show focusing on abhorrently rich socialites, are both trending in Sheffield.

One to watch: chrisspooner (Chris Spooner- Creative designer, avid blogger; 48,481 followers / 8,608 updates)

That was The Blagger’s Blog, a selection of statements, statistics and noteworthy newsies from across the media and social world, amalgamated, allowing the time-starved professional to start a conversation from thin air.

If there is a success story, blunder, or tweeting town you’d like to see included email hello@smokinggunpr.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!

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