Archive for the ‘How To Guides’ Category

Case Study: How to Craft A Cheese

Thursday, February 28th, 2013

When Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses asked us to come up with an idea to increase customer spend during the summer months last year our brief was simple. Communicate the core brand message, integrate digital and PR to build online interest, and drive sales of hero product, Blacksticks Blue.

40million ‘opportunities to see’ the brand were generated, Facebook and Twitter activity increased by 91% and 87% respectively, whilst 288 references to the company appeared in print and online press. So our Craft A Cheese campaign beat all expectations- but what did we do, and why did it work so well?

The concept
A quirky brand, the Butlers ethos is ‘taste the unexpected’. As such our campaign needed to have elements of unpredictability and spontaneity. With this in mind, we decided to offer the public an opportunity to put forward their own ideas on the perfect cheese- from the weirdest to the most overwhelmingly obvious- with a call to action on the packets themselves.

Taking it to the public
To launch Craft A Cheese, the Butlers Handmade With Love recipe book, containing entries from previous competitions, was distributed in Lancashire Life and the Preston Reporter. Meanwhile, Craft A Cheese promotions appeared on packs of Blacksticks Blue, and we also launched an email marketing campaign via the company newsletter and a blog post, sending both to its customer database.

We built a micro-site and Facebook app to act as central hubs, complete with fruit machine-style tool to randomise combinations of ingredients for a new cheese. These ideas could then be entered into a competition, with the lucky winner receiving £1,000 in cash, a free trip to Cardiff for the British Cheese Festival, and their own creation realised as a limited edition Butlers product. Facebook and Twitter also hosted a ‘cheese of the day’, generating high levels of engagement.

The press
We launched a national survey inspired by the ongoing trend for home grown food, a la The Good Life. The results were sent out to the media, and hit nearly 300 publications in print and online- with a Butlers quote included in most articles.

Further to this, we came up with a celebrity related stunt to provide some photo opportunities. Bradley Wiggins, for example, agreed to have his face appear on truckles of Blacksticks Blue, giving us fantastic visual content for social media, whilst securing significant local press coverage in the process, thanks to both the sportsman and company’s Lancashire connections.

The taste test
Running from June to October, Craft A Cheese served its purpose and then some. By boosting the company’s profile and increasing understanding of the corporate message we helped bolster its long term market position, going beyond the initial seasonal requirement.

After the campaign Butlers ran a stall at the British Cheese Festival in Cardiff. The winner of the competition was present as part of her complimentary weekend in the city, collected the prize money, and sampled the results of her cheesy idea before the watchful eyes of attendees. As a final stage, this ceremony was filmed, and grabbed the attention of 35,000+ YouTube viewers, adding to the overall success, and exemplifying the power of a truly integrated public relations effort.

Tags: Blackstick's Blue, Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses, Craft A Cheese, food marketing, food pr
Posted in How To Guides, Marketing, Newsletter, Public Relations, Seen this? | No Comments »

How to blog a job in PR

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

It’s no easy thing, landing a role you enjoy with an agreeable firm, least of all with the current lack of available positions being advertised. As the cliche goes, standing out from the crowd is the only sure fire way to get yourself an interview, let alone hired, but now more than ever this is becoming difficult to achieve.

To quote another statement from someone or other: “everything that can be done is being done, or has been done.” Of course that’s spurious at best, but there’s a degree of truth to the statement, albeit served with too much pessimism. Because, in a world of widespread access to advanced technology and instant communication, creating something genuinely unique is far from easy. Just think of the last time you stumbled on a website that lived up to its promise of difference.

It’s not impossible, mind, as Smoking Gun’s recent Account Executive recruit Anne-Marie Bailey proved this year when she blogged (not blagged) her way into a job here at our fine Quay Street office. An MA student studying Public Relations at the University of Sunderland, we were blown away by her approach to one particular assignment, specifically the creation and maintenance of a blog.

Raising the Profile was born, wherein another age old mantra was followed as Anne-Marie wrote about what she knew- in this instance getting to grips with the PR world as a further education student. Better yet, she then added to this by following the second of our key blogging rules, ensuring that the information posted was informative, well written, and useful for visitors.

Interviews with experienced PR practitioners, who offered advice on finding work, news stories and opinion pieces all helped build a respectable following of likeminded young hopefuls. As did Twitter conversations with experts, and the subsequent analysis, again with the focus being on a specific target audience, namely aspiring academics in the discipline.

Of course, the CIPR’s recommendation helped too, and moreover points to the quality of Anne-Marie’s work; the reason for our decision to enlist her skills. To those looking for a foot in the door of this often appealing, unarguably demanding sector the message is simple, then. Be prepared to work hard, not to mention think professionally for a shot at a desk, and be willing to go that extra mile in order to impress. After all, public relations is an industry that relies on its practitioners’ ability to catch the eye, and leave an unforgettable first impression.

Tags: Creative industries, digital media, Digital PR, digital PR agency, integrated marketing, Manchester PR agency, Marketing, Media News, online PR, Smoking Gun PR
Posted in How To Guides, Marketing, Newsletter, Our news, Seen this? | No Comments »

Infographics- why bother?

Tuesday, July 31st, 2012

Each week we hand pick interesting, image-based diagrams to explain the ins and outs of media, social media, PR and marketing. But realistically how useful are such tools at explaining these often complex concepts?

Well, in short, infographics are very useful, mainly because they are highly efficient. A picture tells a thousand words, or so the adage goes, and in the 21st Century that’s certainly a good thing, with most people spending just 2-4 seconds assessing whether or not to stay on a particular web page, leaving little time to take in well-structured sentences.

Coupled with the fact humans have a far superior ability to interpret visual information over any other format, not to mention the increased likelihood pictoral content will be shared online, and you’ve got several compelling reasons to consider commissioning your own. Here are some we had made earlier, each of which is an example of effective business guidance as explained through appealing images.

Tags: buzz, Carcraft, infographics, Kumho Tyres, strategy
Posted in Case Studies, How To Guides, infographic, Newsletter | No Comments »

How to.. find and use insights in PR planning

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

In the latest of our practical guides to PR and digital marketing we offer some basic tips on using insights to help plan effective marcomms campaigns. Finding useful and useable insights is a key factor in developing successful campaigns and is an essential part of the strategic planning process, so here’s how we do it.

What is an insight?

A statement based on a deep understanding of your target consumers’ attitudes and beliefs, which connects at an emotional level with your consumer, provoking a clear response. For example people might say ‘This brand understands me!’, or ‘That is exactly how I feel!’, even if they’ve never thought about it quite like that. When leveraged this has the power to change consumer behaviour.

Insights should affect a change in consumer behaviour that benefits your brand, leading to the achievement of the marketing objective. Exploit them by delivering a point of difference for your brand or a benefit (i.e. adding value).

Where to find insights

Insights can be gleaned from many sources both internally and externally, at no cost and from specialist companies for a fee.

Potential sources include:

Customer services

Focus groups

Mintel

TGI

Sales data

Sector trade press / reports

Customer demographics

Social technographics

Media packs

Google analytics

Facebook data

Blogs

Twitter

How to fully understand the audience (courtesy of Clare Briscall, Planning Director at integrated marketing agency Madhouse Associates):

Key things to think about:

Niche the audience into smaller segments

Customer journey from search to consideration

Use all possible touch points with the customer

Look for decision making triggers

Understand past buying behaviour within your sector

Understand how the niche audience buys/behaves in other comparable sectors

Zeitgeist – look for things going on in their world that might affect consumer decisions

Competition messaging – what are other brands saying and doing? Is their a gap?

Competition interaction – how do others deliver their messages to the audience?

So good luck finding your insights and read the blog for future tips on how to action them or feel free to call us and ask of course!

Tags: campaign, Digital PR, how to, integrated marketing, marketing insights, online PR, PR, PR agency, Print media, public relations, social media agency, social media marketing, technology, Twitter
Posted in How To Guides, Marketing, Newsletter | No Comments »

Recommended viewing: The Future of Advertising

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

As a public relations agency we spend an awful lot of time online, and a major benefit of this- outside effectively managing social media, PR and press office affairs for a plethora of clients- is that we stumble across interesting content on a daily basis. Just like this video.

The Future of Advertising quite clearly visualises something we practice on a regular basis here at Smoking Gun PR, the art of storytelling with brands. Take a look for yourself and things should become a lot clearer, thanks to Story Worldwide for putting it together

Tags: advertising, campaign, communication, Marketing, online PR, PR job, Print media, public relations, social media marketing, technology, Twitter
Posted in How To Guides, Marketing, Seen this?, Social Media & Digital | No Comments »

Mobile websites- why bother?

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

Happy New Year! 2012 has finally arrived, meaning we can all (hopefully) forget about a plethora of trends from last year, such as mass scale UK rioting and flatlining economies.

In contrast the use of smartphones to access the internet is something that will only continue to rise over the coming months. In 2011 the public uptake of these web-enabled devices- whether that’s BlackBerry or iPhone- grew exponentially, with huge numbers being sold as more and more people looked to browse online, email, and do most things they can do on a computer whilst on a bus, in the canteen, or just about anywhere else they might choose to surf from.

Of course tablet computers are another ‘buzz product’ at the moment, with the iPad 2 featuring on just about everyone’s Christmas list, and many of the competitor products are now priced so low it’s difficult not to be very tempted. Even the Smoking Gun office is now equipped with Apple’s beautiful touchscreen devices, and because we pride ourselves on effective investment we’d say that’s a strong sign these gadgets are here to stay.

But this doesn’t mean smartphones are set to be a flash in the pan success. Experts universally predict the rise in mobile phones equipped with powerful processors will only continue, though there is a problem. Such devices can display most websites with ease, however the original domain design is, more often than not, coded for traditional computers and laptops. Those uninterested with functionality and usability might not be that bothered, but in order to guarantee competitiveness in an increasingly ferocious marketplace any business should seriously consider investing in a mobile version of its website so as to satisfy all potential customers.

Don’t believe us? Here’s a video by Vistaworks, a US web design company with a portfolio spanning well over 15 years, which explains how the shift away from desktops and other such full-screen machines is likely to continue in the immediate future. So take a look for yourself, and then have a think about what needs to be done.

Tags: buzz, communication, Creatives, Digital PR, Media News, mobile internet, mobile websites, Smartphones, tablet computers, technology
Posted in How To Guides, Media News, technology | No Comments »

Guest post – Digital strategies and galactic warfare

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

We’re extremely proud to introduce our next guest blogger, Mark McGee @Mark_McGee. Vice-President of Communications for a not-for-profit trade association, and a freelance digital marketing consultant, with a 21-year career in the creative and communications industries (16 of which involved digital), he has worked on nearly every aspect of digital, from strategic planning through design, coding and on-site optimisation, to analysis. He is currently completing his dissertation for Econsultancy’s MSc in digital marketing.

The Cylons had a plan. So should you.

In 2003, sci-fi fans were treated to a re-imagining of a classic series: Battlestar Galactica. At the start of every episode we were told that the Cylons “had a plan” but what this plan actually involved was shrouded in mystery for much of the four seasons that the show ran for. It wasn’t until the 2010 release of a special mini-feature, aptly named The Plan, that we had an insight into what was going on in the brains of these (bio)mechanical antagonists.

After watching this feature a few times (alright, more than a few times) I began to see a correlation between what the Cylons were doing and one of my favourite digital marketing planning models: SOSTAC®. So, I decided to see if it really did match. And, by the Lords of Kobol, it did!

This shows that the Cylons understood the need for a robust plan of action and the ability to adapt it to events that occur during its implementation. There is no excuse for you not to have one for your digital marketing activities.

Of course, the Cylons’ plan involved genocide, nuclear destruction, killer robots, sleeper agents, seduction and betrayal, but I probably wouldn’t recommend these for your next email campaign strategy.

CLICK TO ENLARGE INFOGRAPHIC

Situation analysis

THE CYLONS

Exiled from the Colonies since Cylon War 40 years ago
No contact with Colonials since end of Cylon war
Still seen as ‘enemy’ by humanity
Perfected ‘Significant Seven’ human/cylon models with assistance of ‘Final Five’
Basestars, Raiders and Centurions upgraded in large numbers
Resurrection technology achieved

SOSTAC®

Where are we now?

DIGITAL MARKETING

Goal Performance
Customer Insight
E-marketing SWOT
Brand Perception
Internal capability and resources

Objectives

THE CYLONS

To be favoured above humanity by ‘Final Five’
To be in total control of the Twelve Colonies
To live in peace without fear of human reprisal

SOSTAC®

Where do we want to be?

DIGITAL MARKETING

Sell: customer acquisition and retention targets
Serve: customer satisfaction targets
Sizzle: site stickiness, visit duration
Speak: trialogue; number of engaged customers
Save: quantified efficiency gains

Strategy

THE CYLONS

Disable Colonial defence mainframe
Destroy Colonial fleet’s ability to respond
Annihilate human race throughout the Twelve Colonies
Teach ‘Final Five’ a lesson for their “foolish appreciation of humanity”

SOSTAC®

How do we get there

DIGITAL MARKETING

Segmentation, targeting and positioning
OVP (online value proposition)
Sequence (credibility before visibility)
Integration (consistent OVP) and database
Tools (web functionality, email, IPTV, etc.)

Tactics

THE CYLONS

Insert ‘Final Five’ into Colonial life with false memories
Insert sleeper agents and ‘Significant Seven’ models into Colonial fleet and other positions of value
Obtain backdoor codes to Colonial defence mainframe
Simultaneous attack on all Colonies

SOSTAC®

How exactly do we get there?

DIGITAL MARKETING

E-marketing mix, including: the communications mix, social networking, what happens when?
Details of contact strategy
E-campaign initiative schedule

Actions

THE CYLONS

‘Ones’ to oversee implementation
‘Twos’ to act as infiltrators and monitor military installations
‘Threes’ to act as infiltrators
‘Fours’ to infiltrate as medical specialists
‘Fives’ to infiltrate and sow seeds of discontent or confusion
‘Sixes’ are to infiltrate and use seduction to obtain backdoor codes to Colonial defence mainframe
‘Eights’ only one model is to be inserted into Colonial fleet as a sleeper agent
‘Hybrids’ to control and coordinate Basestars
Basestars to simultaneously attack all Colonies, defence outposts and Colonial fleet
Raiders to mop up remaining defences
Centurions to hunt down and destroy remaining Colonials

SOSTAC®

Who does what and when?

DIGITAL MARKETING

Responsibilities and structures
Internal resources and skills
External agencies

Control

THE CYLONS

Determine number of Colonial casualties
Colonial fleet destroyed
Monitor for survivors
Gauge reaction from ‘Final Five’
Revise plan if necessary to achieve objectives

SOSTAC®

How do we monitor performance?

DIGITAL MARKETING

5Ss + web analytics – KPIs
Usability testing/mystery shopper
Customer satisfaction surveys
Site visitor profiling
Frequency of reporting
Process of reporting and actions

Disclaimer & credits

SOSTAC® is a planning model, originally developed in the 1990s to help with marketing planning by PR Smith, who is Dave Chaffey’s co-author on Emarketing Excellence.

Battlestar Galactica and related content is © 2011, Syfy (a division of NBCUniversal). All rights reserved. No copyright infringement intended, used for illustration purposes only. Reference information from Battlestarwiki.

Tags: advert, advertising, communication, Digital PR, integrated marketing, Marketing, online PR, public relations, strategy
Posted in Guest Post, How To Guides, Marketing, Social Media & Digital | No Comments »

Recommended viewing- How to acquire, engage and retain customers with Foursquare

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

In many people’s minds social media for business is all about Twitter and Facebook. Of course those are the ‘big two’ if you will, but the world of online networking has many more strings to its bow.

Foursquare is a location based social network that opened up shop in 2009, and has been used by brands, promoters, and retailers since then to offer customers discounts and deals, in turn building up a loyal following. As this video explains, all you need is a bricks and mortar business, and an internet connection, so if this isn’t on your radar already take a look at the clip below, and then put the advice into practice. Thanks to Howcast for putting it together.

Tags: Digital PR, digital PR agency, Facebook, Foursquare, Glasgow social media week 2011, Linkedin, marketing in Manchester, My Space, Public Relations in Manchester, Social Media, social media agency, social networking for business, Twitter
Posted in How To Guides, Marketing, Social Media & Digital | No Comments »

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