Thought for the week

“It is high time that the banks took their social responsibilities seriously. Since the start of the year RBS, HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds have announced plans to slash about 6,900 jobs. The industry almost caused the economy to implode in 2008 and now it is contributing to a jobs crisis.“ Unite national officer Dominic Hook, commenting after RBS announced 1,400 job losses over the next two years.

Weekly high

There’s nothing we like more than a socially responsible PR stunt, and as such this week Brazilian beer manufacturer Antarctica wins our top spot. In a bid to reduce the number of drink driving incidents, revellers attending the Rio de Janeiro carnival (which the drink brand sponsors) were allowed to use their empties as tickets on the city’s metro system, making public transport preferable to a boozy car journey.

Weekly low

It wasn’t that long ago when the news was filled with horrific reports following a mass shooting inside an American cinema. As such, when a mastermind at Capital 8 Theatres decided to employ fake gunmen to storm its screens in Missouri as a promotion for Iron Man 3, it’s understandable people were outraged. Despite the obvious issue, amazingly manager Bob Wilkins doesn’t seem to think there’s a problem.

Things that might happen in the next week…

The Castlefield Hotel hosts the Manchester Internet Meeting tonight, open for anyone even remotely interested in Internet marketing. Tuesday sees the Liverpool Dot-Art: Design Your Own Marketing Materials event take place at The Bluecoat, showing attendees how to create flyers, posters and more with free software (and their own laptops). On Wednesday the Leeds Enterprise Network meets at the city’s Metropolitan University, where graduate Anna Moss will discuss opening her own marketing company.

Just in case you missed it…

The Sun is to introduce a paywall from August 1st. Users signing up to the new service, dubbed Sun+, will receive seven day per week access to the website via any device they own, in addition to extras including Premier League football highlights. Read more on the story here, or watch this space for the Smoking Gun analysis next week.

If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!

Thought for the week

“Listen chums, this thing isn’t working for either of us. Your eurozone is causing all sorts of misery, plus the on-costs, the non-wage costs, of the way the EU has been running and has legislated and regulated over the last 20-30 years are making the whole area completely uncompetitive. We need a renegotiation.” London Mayor Boris Johnson, explaining how Britain leaving the EU would not be ‘cataclysmic’ on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme.

Weekly high

After Alex Ferguson announced his retirement from the job of Manchester United manager several companies were quick off the mark with PR and marketing stunts. Unsurprisingly, Paddy Power went the furthest with scant regard for causing offence by putting this advertising hoarding up in Liverpool city centre. Still, there’s nothing like making a big impression.

Weekly low

Charles Ramsey, the American guy who rescued two imprisoned women and a child from his neighbour’s house in Cleveland, Ohio, should be commended for his efforts. As he explains in the interview below, before hearing cries for help he was eating McDonalds. Less admirable is the fast food chain’s ‘sensitive’ tweet (also below), seen by some as using the horrific event for marketing. Worse still, according to Time magazine, the hero of the hour actually has previous domestic violence convictions, proving brands need to look before they leap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axCn04iXkBg

Things that might happen in the next week…

The F.A. Cup Final will be played at Wembley stadium tomorrow, with Wigan taking on the might of Manchester City, and as a result don’t expect seats on the Piccadilly Euston service until around midday. Many teenagers will begin their GCSE examinations on Monday, following news grades should be set higher as of autumn (hardly encouraging for those imminently sitting tests). UK Government departments will look to advertising partners and sponsors to help fund campaigns following a change to legislation.

Just in case you missed it…

Samsung has won Brand of the Year at The Drum marketing awards, whilst UM London- the firm behind Royal Mail’s Gold Medal Winner Stamps for last the 2012 Olympics, has bagged the Grand Prix. Read more on the story here.

If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!

Sometimes you can’t help but be proud of where you live. This week we’ve stumbled across two articles about Smoking Gun PR’s hometown, and as they both involve major developments on the local (and international) digital media frontier it seems only right to share our newfound knowledge.

First of all then, whilst no longer the top team in England, Manchester City has cemented its place as the nation’s most technologically advanced club following the decision to implement a Wi-Fi network in its stadium at Eastlands. Not for nothing, the Cisco equipment will have all the obvious benefits of reliable, fast wireless Internet in a situation where- 4G or not- there’s every chance if all 47,000 people tried to re-buffer a web page at the same time they could experience a little slow down.

Better yet, 02, who will be delivering the service, also intend on installing kit to boost mobile reception for everyone inside, eliminating the same problem when it comes to making a call (or sending a text). Whether you believe football should still involve standing on terraces and waiting for Match of the Day highlights or not, there’s no denying this is a first for any Premier League side.

Apparently, the Wi-Fi will also facilitate Stadium Vision Mobile, which allows business owners- in this case the stadium bosses- to co-ordinate content between big screens and the mobiles logged on to the network. Even more impressively, they can also filter this down to individual devices, meaning it would, technically, be possible to receive a direct personal message from one of the players, coaching staff or similar whilst at a game. Needless to say, there’s marketing potential there in spades.

Improvements to Manchester’s digital infrastructure haven’t gone unnoticed elsewhere, either. As we read in the Financial Times, the city is now something of a ‘magnet for tech pioneers‘. Out in Newton Heath, The Sharp Project- a development of affordable, creative office spaces that is fast becoming another TV and production hub- has some prestigious new neighbours, with EON Reality setting up its European headquarters in the area. The 3D tech giant already has bases in Singapore and Sweden, with this new address set to boast a Virtual Reality showroom, and Entrepreneurial Coding School, which will welcome 500 students every year.

The same article also references the growing cloud hosting industry Manchester has managed to develop as further signs of the region’s healthy future prospects. EON Reality chairman and founder, Dan Lejerskar, explained to the FT: “No other city in Europe has invested as much in its digital media and content operations- with billions being spent on creating a global hub for creative industries. Manchester is perfectly placed to be the UK’s digital city.” Needless to say then, whilst the warm weather may have subsided (hopefully only for a short while), the skies are grey and the rain falling outside our window, there’s plenty to be upbeat about from our perspective.

This month we helped launch a brand new online community, designed for animals and people. Well, actually, pet owners and their pets. Far from a long-shot, it has already made national print and broadcast headlines, and represents a growing trend for this kind of specialist offering.

Mysocialpetwork makes good on the decade old quip that ‘the internet is mostly just pictures of cute kittens’. Its arrival in the UK follows on from Europe, with the site providing a place for owners to post pictures, status updates and more, on behalf of- or about- their furry, scaly or feathered friends. Two weeks after launch and our client has received hits via the likes of BBC 5 Live’s breakfast show, The Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday and The Daily Telegraph. That’s impressive, although we’re not particularly surprised.

For one thing, we worked hard on an innovative pre-launch campaign. Secondly, the rise of niche social media has been a long time coming. The major networks were not designed to serve a specific market, but specific markets exist, and they all need to be served. Hence Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg forking out $1million last year for a stake in SumZero, a community for professional investors.

No doubt many of those may well be members of another platform, namely Best Of All Worlds. Conceived by Erik Wachtmeister- a Swedish Count no less- it acts as an online meeting point for the wealthy and well connected. Likened by its creator to a members-only country club, imagine the powerful and prestigious talking to each other without worrying about the riff raff, as they always have, albeit with instant messaging and status updates, but sans century-aged Scotch.

Lady Gaga made headlines- and attracted plenty of attention from music pros- when she launched her own network last year. Little Monsters means you no longer need to be at a concert to know everyone in the vicinity is a die-hard fan. Make friends, arrange trips, buy tickets and share music is the mantra her management seem to have adopted, and the benefits are clear in an industry increasingly reliant on events as its core product. Understandably, other platinum sellers are already being touted as the next adopters.

In contrast to the decadent entertainment industry, Impossible.com is a more worthwhile variation on the same idea. Aimed at altruists rather than Gagaists, here people can offer their skills and expertise for free, either as a donation or in exchange for other services and items. According to Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia: “It’s the basis for an economy not based on money.” We’ll not be giving up on Sterling just yet, but it’s certainly an applaudable concept.

The list could go on, too. My Last Wish is a slightly macabre example, allowing you to find others with the same list of things they’d like to do before they die. Meanwhile, Untappd lets you check into any pub, locate those with comparable taste buds, and discover where they go to satisfy that thirst. In each case a gap in the market has clearly been identified, in the same way as fan clubs, specialist magazines, and forums have been doing for so long already. With that in mind, keeping an eye out for any relevant to your industry would be time well spent.

So that was the month that was. In recent weeks we’ve been signing new clients, promoting great campaigns, and, of course, sharing expertise. All in a day’s work.

To kick things off it’s our great pleasure to announce that Smoking Gun will be handling PR responsibilities for Gorilla Glue. The UK arm of America’s toughest adhesive manufacturer is making a serious push into the British market, and we’re delighted to be assisting with social and traditional media support; the start of a strong bond that will hopefully last for some time to come.

In other recent news, our work for the Manchester United Soccer Schools initiative has scored several impressive goals. The Premier League winning side is combining sports coaching with English language lessons, and to help raise awareness our Facebook competition achieved 3.1million page impressions since it launched in March, with 6,658 likes and an engagement level of 52%. Meanwhile, the business goal of increased traffic to its new site was met with a 71% uplift in unique visitors.

We’re currently involved in two extra-curricular activities too. Six Seconds of Illumination- #6seconds- will see students from Salford University’s Design Futures course organise an exhibition for creative business owners and the public, showcasing what Design Thinking means to them. Louise Woodward, Account Director here at Quay Street, is working alongside undergraduates and tutors, offering insight and advice on how to develop the idea.

Staff have also signed up to the Pledge A Pint campaign. Spearheaded by Sam Roden, who was taken critically ill last year and recovered thanks to blood transfusions received at the University Hospital of South Manchester, the idea is to donate blood rather than money in order to back his efforts in a host of events, including the London Marathon. For information on how to get involved click here.

All in all plenty to talk about, and that’s before we mention the superb evening organised by our client, WRG, last week. Dubbed ‘The Unforgettable Year’, a host of high profile speakers, including Media City mastermind (and WRG non-exec) Lord Michael Grade, reflected on Britain’s successes in 2012- from James Bond in Skyfall to the Olympics. Indicative of the host company’s global reputation for nurturing and building brands based on truly memorable ideas, it rounded off a busy period of time in fine and fittingly professional style. Now back to work with us.

DIGITAL- The top video in the Viral Video Chart right now is this clip of U.S. TV station KFYR’s latest addition to the news team, and for good reason. Within seconds of starting his first live broadcast he managed to swear not once, but twice, distracting his co-anchor and upsetting the bosses no end. So far as we’re aware he’s no longer in the same job.

DIGITAL- The Independent has expanded its offering with a new augmented reality version of the daily newspaper. Available via the Blippar app, the digital title will showcase interactive technology that enables readers to (not quite literally) dig deeper into the stories, and find what they want faster.

PR- The PRCA and Meltwater won a landmark case in the UK Supreme Court against the Newspaper Licensing Agency, in which it was ruled temporarily republishing articles on computer screens by accessing news websites should not require an additional license, reducing potential costs significantly.

PRINT- More! magazine is set to close. Relaunched with new focus ‘on the social media obsessed girl’ only last year, this cessation marks another loss in the increasingly struggling teen-female consumer sector, and a significant one at that, with the title in question formerly a market leader.

PRINT- Spare Rib, a radical feminist magazine that enjoyed a 21 year run before closing in 1993, will re-emerge. Guardian journalist and former editor of the now-defunct Modern Review, Charlotte Raven, is behind the move, and is currently looking to raise £20,000 from investors at a minimum of £100 each.

SOCIAL- Adobe has announced a new ‘predictive analytics’ tool, complete with Facebook integration. The application will monitor followers and fans on social media, observe their behaviour and calculate what times content should be posted at, and what content should be used to anyone signed up to the service.

SOCIAL- Boris Johnson used Google’s feted Hangout to promote London Tech City, a key initiative in Britain’s push for a greater share in the digital economy. The first high-ranking politician to use the service, it comes at a time when experts are unanimous in their verdict that the search giant’s social network is here to stay.

SOCIAL- With 72% of UK adults now visiting their online profiles daily, the fight for dominance continues. Facebook has just introduced Home, a mobile interface and one-stop shop for information, with the first built-in example being HTC’s One phone, which is dominated by the network from the home screen onwards.

SOCIAL- The tragic events in Boston led to some interesting examples of how social media can be put to good use. Google’s swift deployment of its missing persons tool- originally developed for the Haitian earthquake in 2010- being one major example, along with Twitter-led frontline reporting…

…unfortunately though, it was a double-edged sword. Reddit may have eventually assisted investigators by finding better quality images of suspects, but not before it sparked veritable witch hunts following unfounded speculation on who the perpetrators may be. Meanwhile, Epicurious used the event as a marketing crutch, sharing ‘relevant’ recipes and being lambasted for insensitivity as a result.

SOCIAL- Twitter has entered into a new ad deal with U.S. commercial giant Starcom Media Vest. The move will see the advertising agency’s clients get preferential opportunities at competitive rates, and is predicted to exponentially increase revenue for the social network. Read more on the news here.

Thought for the week

“Despite a tough economic backdrop, we are making progress. We all know there are no easy answers to problems built up over many years, and I can’t promise the road ahead will always be smooth, but by continuing to confront our problems head on, Britain is recovering and we are building an economy fit for the future.” George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, responding to news that Britain’s economy had grown by 0.3%  in the first quarter of 2013, beating the 0.1% analysts had predicted. Is anyone else getting a feeling of deja vu?

Weekly high

London design consultancy Berg has brought the digital and physical worlds even closer together this week with the announcement of #Flock. In short, these cuckoo clocks contain the company’s own wireless interface technology, which (when linked to your Twitter account) makes the birds inside chirp on the hour, and whenever someone in your timeline retweets or replies to one of your posts. Here’s a video to prove it.

Weekly low

The world is on the bring of environmental catastrophe. You don’t need to tell us that. The need to lower the carbon output from vehicles has never been more urgent, and any car manufacturer trying to reduce its impact on the planet should be rewarded. Apart from Hyundai, a firm that decided the best way to show off their “100% water emission” model by launching a viral video depicting a man trying to kill himself. Far too far.

Things that might happen in the next week…

On Wednesday Switzerland will begin to enforce a new immigration cap to limit the number of workers that can move to the country from other EU nations in search of a job; several newspaper groups including News International, Telegraph Media Group, and Associated Newspapers will prepare documentation ahead of taking their own non-government sponsored press regulation reform bill to the Privy Council; and the editor of a free London paper may be asked to apologise (at least) for comments in print suggesting some people should be ‘banned from breeding’.

Just in case you missed it…

Twitter is set to expand its advertising offering significantly following a new deal with Starcom Media Vest Group, a division of Publicis, one of the biggest of the U.S. industry players, with the latter’s clients having access to the most preferential commercial space on the network. The social media giant’s revenue is expected to leap from as a result. Read more on the story here.

If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!

Thought for the week

“Whether you were for her or against her, Margaret Thatcher set the agenda for the past three and a half decades of British politics. All the debates that matter today in the public arena, whether in economics, social policy, politics, the law, the national culture or this country’s relations with the rest of the world, still bear something of the imprint she left on them in her years in office between 1979 and 1990.” The Guardian newspaper, in response to the death of former PM Margaret Thatcher on Monday.

Weekly high

If you’re unfamiliar with the book Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, or the Francois Truffaut cinematic adaptation, then it’s a dystopian vision of a future wherein the fire brigade breaks into people’s homes to incinerate literature, the traditional source of knowledge. An outright classic, despite owning a copy we’ve also ordered this new U.S. edition, which comes with match and striking strip on the side so it can be burnt. How daring.

Weekly low

OK, so you need to be patient with this one. The video below shows a brave Swedish journalist embarking on a taste experiment whilst visiting the headquarters of international brewing giant AB InBev, based in Belgium (responsible for the likes of Stella Artois). He hits the streets of the surrounding town, and collars the marketing chief in order to ascertain if anyone can actually tell the difference between the aforementioned brand and other common lagers. Hands up if you can guess the conclusion?

Things that might happen in the next week…

David Cameron flies out to Germany today for a rare visit to Chancellor Angela Merke’s country residence, Margaret Thatcher will received a state funeral on Wednesday, with full military honours- angering many members of the public- and the EC competition commission will consider Google’s proposals to label results that link to its own services, an offer that follows a year of negotiations and perpetual criticism aimed at the tech giant.

Just in case you missed it…

Last Friday we attended the launch of a brand new culture magazine aimed specifically at the North West, or perhaps more accurately Manchester and Liverpool. The Skinny lays claim to 91 issues to date in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with the well-respected regional newsprint title looking to establish a similarly good name for itself in this area of England. Take a look at the website here, or pick up a copy in city centre shops, bars and venues next time you’re in one of our two biggest towns.

If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!

Marketing, media, and public relations aren’t the easiest going industries. Unpredictable, heavily influenced by public opinion and current affairs, an average day in the life is rarely an average day.

Despite the unexpected always happening in every area of PR, though, it has to be said few organisations face quite such a challenge when compared with Britain’s police forces. Here in our hometown of Manchester, the GMP has been pretty forward thinking when it comes to reaching out, offering Twitter support to residents and more in order to increase the reporting of crimes and breakdown the often sizeable wall that can stand between the public and authorities.

Today the MEN ran a story that caught our eye, partly because we like to keep abreast with all things related to law enforcement and media, but also as this is one of the bravest, potentially great, possibly pointless moves of its kind to date. Officers in some of the city’s southern suburbs (namely the notably middle-class neighbourhoods of Chorlton and Didsbury) have been handing out tickets for good behaviour, targeting teenagers in the hope of getting their point across.

With a sensationalist headline like ‘How The Police Target The Good Guys’ anyone giving the article a quick glance could be forgiven for thinking prejudice against young people had reached an all-time high. However, the tickets in question are supposed to be seen as rewards by the recipients. Think of it like a star on an exercise book, only it’s the ability to perform well socially, rather than academically, that’s being recognised. Good deeds range from putting litter in the bid to crossing roads at pedestrian-friendly points.

Sergeant Tariq Butt, based off Burton Road in West Didsbury, makes a good point. She told the MEN: “As police officers and PCSOs we only ever issue tickets in negative situations, so this is refreshing not only for ourselves, but also for youngsters who get to see a different side to us.” The problem being that someone stopping you on a cold and rainy evening to say thanks for cycling on the road with effective lights and safety gear could well be a little annoying. Or at least a mild inconvenience.

Hopefully more tact and better timing will have ensured no such situations come about. However, according to the same news piece, even without that actually happening this initiative, dubbed ‘positive policing’, has come under fire from a few young people in these areas- and so far only 20 tickets (give or take) have been handed out. Whilst some have warmed to the idea, others banded it a waste of time, explaining that getting to know local officers could help improve the often awkward alliance, albeit this perhaps isn’t the best way to go about it.

At a time when this subject is a major talking point- what with the first Youth Police Commissioner’s social media faux pas highlighting how difficult it is to launch a successful campaign that can unite police and people in the prime of their lives- these kind of concepts should be welcomed, at least as an initial experiment. But will a pat on the back make for an ingenious PR exercise, or is this likely to wind up a near miss, destined to be forgotten in months to come?

Thought for the week

“In the last 10 years nine horses have died of injuries sustained in the race. This is the most over any decade since it officially started in 1839.“ Dene Stansall, Animal Aid’s horse racing expert, discussing the cruelty involved in tomorrow’s Grand National at Aintree.

Weekly high

Although the temperature hasn’t changed much, April landed on Monday, bringing with it the most amusing morning of the year. On April Fools’ Day everyone loves a good prank, like this viral chart topper from YouTube announcing the site’s imminent closure. Lucky nobody believed it.

Weekly low

Florida baseball team the Tampa Bay Rays fell foul of media rule number one- look before you leap (or hold up a sign for someone) this week. The mascot, appropriately a furry Manta Ray, was handed this placard for a photo opportunity, which suggests the death of Steve Irwin, crocodile hunter, in 2006, may not have been an accident at all. Pointless, and terribly distasteful, out question is ‘what was the point?’

Things that might happen in the next week…

The funeral of revered American film critic Roger Ebert, arguably the most respected cinema journalist of his time, is expected to take place after he lost his battle with cancer aged 70, 25 jobs will be saved at the Independent following tense negotiations with the NUJ, and the News International owned Sun On Sunday will increase its cover price from 50p to 60p on April 6th.

Just in case you missed it…

Last night Facebook unveiled Home, a new application available for Android phones set to afford users a more enhanced level of integration between the social network and mobile operating system. Rumours of a Zuckerberg phone proved to be untrue, although a new handset designed by HTC will be the first to sport the software pre-installed. Read more on the story here.

If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!