“Facebook is populated by mums and PR staff. No self-respecting young person would be on Facebook.” Radio 1 Newsbeat and 1Xtra editor Rod McKenzie, who instead suggests that Tumblr, Snapchat, Vine and Keek are the networks of choice those in the prime of their lives. Whether he believes those same young people want the kind of content produced by the two stations he works at remains to be seen.
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Everybody loves being in bed. As a species we spend most of our time either at work or asleep, and having a good spot to rest your head is important. Or at least that’s what the latest advert from IKEA Sweden thinks, which manages to chronicle a baby becoming a man, with the real focus being on his relationship with mattress and frame.
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PespiCo commissioned American rapper and video producer Tyler The Creator for a new serialised online ad campaign. His idea was a Mountain Dew-addicted goat getting in trouble with the law, but the latest instalment (now removed by the company amid accusations of being the ‘most racist commercial ever’) caused a furore in the U.S. thanks to its apparent stereotyping and promotion of violence towards women.
Things that might happen in the next week…
Both Liverpool and Salford are hosting similarly named but unrelated new music showcases over the next few days, respectively industry crowd puller Sound City and the more intimate but still impressive Sounds From The Other City. On Monday the Chartered Institute of Marketing will host Meet & Mingle for members, a free event which will be held at The Leeds Club (3 Albion Place, Leeds, LS1 6JL). Ukip representatives will continue to celebrate a marked rise in popularity following a second place result in the South Shields by-election, whist Conservatives blame anti-coalition sentiment for the right wing populists’ increase in support.
Just in case you missed it…
Instagram has developed a brand new picture editing application, Photos Of You, with the idea being to make it easier for users to add people and objects to images. Read more on the story here, or watch the video below.
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!
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.
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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!
Video games have come a long way since the Amiga. But, despite the advent of Grand Theft Auto and interactive, immersive 3D environments, many people still carry a torch for the old school legends. Pac-Man being one of the most popular. Don’t believe us? Take a look at this building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which was transformed into a giant version of several retro titles to encourage people to play via their iPads.
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We’ve definitely been here before. Which is a huge shame, and an indictment on marketing and PR morality. Following the tragic bombings at the Boston Marathon this week food website Epicurious decided to suggest recipes in honour of the horrific event. Needless to say, it’s not exactly in good taste, with the decision coming under fire amid accusations of exploiting the devastation. An apology was quickly issued.
Things that might happen in the next week…
The London Marathon will go ahead as planned on Sunday, with an increased police presence following the terrorist attacks in Boston, Russian President Vladimir Putin will engage in a live Q&A with the public on Thursday, and the European Court will begin a ‘clarification’ process after the UK Supreme Court ruled browsing articles online should not put the user at risk of breaching copyright law.
Just in case you missed it…
The Mail On Sunday’s new culture supplement, Event, launched last weekend. Doubling the newspaper’s capacity for arts and entertainment content, it’s a rare new start in an increasingly sedentary print world. Take a look at our review of the magazine pull-out 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!
It’s never good for business if one company controls the market, hence the Competition Commission. Evidently, though, things work a bit differently when you trade online.
As our Blagger’s Blog quoted recently, some experts claim Google has contravened several legislative measures that safeguard competitiveness. By no means the first accusations of this kind, despite this the firm continues to expand its influence, often causing a minor furore amongst smaller rivals in the process.
Of course I’m not saying this is a monopoly. When a critic rounded on Google Play recently after it emerged that highly sensitive data about users is being given to developers for no good reason, the firm made him tone it down. As such I’d prefer to avoid rash statements, especially given a U.S. court absolved the world’s biggest search engine of antitrust back in January, and the UK is a libel hotbed.
John M. Simpson of the American advocacy group Consumer Watchdog feels differently, mind. Following the legal ruling he told TechCrunch: “Google clearly skews search results to favor [sic] its own products and services while portraying the results as unbiased. That undermines competition and hurts consumers.”
Elsewhere, Business Insider ran a story on forced Google+ sign ups to access services like Gmail and Docs. Whether David Beckham would have 4,846,384 UK followers, more than any other celebrity on the network, without the gun-to-head incentive is unclear, unlike the reason for this policy. Google-dominated online advertising increases in value as public targeting gets more accurate. The best way to do that is by cross-referencing search habits with online social behaviour.
Google’s Penguin algorithm update, used to rank pages, has also been the subject of controversy. By actively penalising sites that fall foul of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines with ‘black hat SEO’ tactics, the hard and fast rule seems to be fall in line with what the search giant wants or drop off the world wide web altogether. Plummeting traffic and absence in results being terribly bad for non compliant businesses. That said a push towards better quality content on websites and more naturally earned, relevant links makes sense for general internet users.
So we need Google more than Google needs most of us, and at least for now we’re stuck with the status quo. This means trying to fool the monolith with unapproved optimisation tricks or opting out altogether aren’t viable options. Instead, on-brand digital storytelling via regular creative content- built for people rather than machines- is the only policy I ever advocate. Unless, of course, you want to play an expensive, perpetual game of cat and mouse with the powers that be. Trust me, there can only ever be one real winner.
Consumers prefer brands with ethical credentials. Employees prefer working for brands with ethical credentials. And, interestingly, brands with ethical credentials have been shown to perform better on the balance sheet.
As such it’s no surprise schemes like Kumho Tyres’ ‘Cash For Causes’ campaign, which we helped launch last summer, prove so popular. Building on last year’s initiative, independent tyre retailers up and down the UK will again select two local community organisations or charities. The public then votes on which they perceive to be the most worthwhile, with £5,000 handed out to the most popular candidate and all nominated causes taking a share. Until the end of March, charities can register online to put themselves in the running to be part of the campaign by clicking here.
According to research by our client, 45% of Britons claim support for local issues is important to them, and 25% say they want to see more local projects reducing anti-social behaviour. Many businesses already know the value of doing good too. 80% of the FTSE 100 now reports on CSR performance, with successful projects often leading to a boost in commercial results.
So by showing it cares a company can build a loyal customer base, and establish an earnest reputation. But it’s not simply a case of partnering up with a worthwhile cause and letting the public know. People are skeptical at best when it comes to businesses, and the bigger the firm the more questions are often asked. Thanks to tax avoidance, economic catastrophes, Chinese tech sweat shops, the exploitation of mineral-rich countries and more, corporate trust is at an all time low.
There is little to be gained from ploughing resources into social schemes at home if you’re harvesting futures elsewhere in the world. As BBC business writer Shanaz Musafer highlighted in an article last October, authenticity is key for most firms considering a CSR programme. After all, few can afford to do a McDonalds; continuing to cause arterial damage and contributing to weight problems whilst taking a central role in the nation’s fight against obesity through sports sponsorship.
csrinpractice.com divides these projects into separate categories- environmental, community, HR, and philanthropy. From more effective recruitment strategies and the creation of wider business opportunities, to reducing advertising spend thanks to good press and lower bills via energy efficiency, the potential benefits from a well-conceived corporate social responsibility policy far outweigh the downsides, and can even prove cost effective. Combining business sense and moral fibre, few initiatives are so indicative of a forward thinking company outlook.
Talk to us to learn more about integrating CSR into your businesses planning or how to maximise your current programme.
If YouTube was a country it would be the world’s third largest by population. Culturally it’s just as significant, helping launch the Arab Spring (along with Justin Bieber and Psy). Which isn’t bad, for an eight year old.
Needless to say, plenty has changed since it launched. Not least Google’s acquisition, for $1.6billion, within months of go-live. A shrewd investment, the network is currently thought to be worth 45 times that amount, with video content becoming the most sought after online content between then and now.
Two years later, the American TV broadcaster NBC was amongst the first to be concerned about pirated recordings, demanding content be removed. A direct precursor to official terms and conditions regarding royalties and intellectual property, ironically the television station quickly u-turned, entering into a deal to screen promotional clips for forthcoming shows on YouTube. The first of many similar agreements, and another sign of things to come.
With Virgin Media subscribers and Apple TV owners now having the network wired into their package, and firms like Red Bull streaming live events on the platform (like that record-breaking stratospheric skydive) the original video social network is more like a multi-medium content channel these days. Mobile devices, PCs, plasma screens, and interactive sets all offer access to the website and its filmed treasures.
From amateur enthusiasts to major corporations, by the time U.S. Congress and Vatican City YouTube channels opened- in 2007 and 2009 respectively- the mainstream potential of the platform was more than evident. The popularity and perceived value of video began to increase exponentially too; everyone wanted to watch something, and businesses wanted to exploit that demand.
Having grown alongside the demand for video YouTube’s position as number one isn’t surprising. However, it’s no longer a one horse race. Rivals like Vimeo are slowly gaining ground, with 5million new members joining in the last 12 months alone. The closest competitor here in the UK, it still has plenty of catching up to do but exclusive deals with bands, brands and events prove those in charge understand what incentives will get people tuning in. And then there are the niche networks.
Twitter’s Vine lets you work with six seconds of footage. Similar to Keek’s 15-second idea, along with a host of other Apple and Android integrated equivalents (from Socialcam to Viddy), these short and sweet mobile options probably don’t pose an individual threat to YouTube. But collectively they could. There are only so many hours in the day, and the more people spend on rivals- most of which come with far less intrusive advertising- the less they have for the biggest fish in this saturated pond, meaning much more work will be necessary if it’s to stay in pole position.
So spring never really sprung. Instead we had snowdrifts and sub-zero temperatures. Still, with another two awards, a fantastic new client, more faces joining the team, and a major digital launch, we’ve had plenty to do indoors.
First up, we’re delighted to welcome onboard Beth Livesey, our new Account Executive, who brings with her impressive experience working for major consumer leisure brands. A perfect addition to help with the rather sizeable office workload following a string of successful pitches, it’s our pleasure to have her take up a desk and start beavering away on her Mac.
That’s not our only new signing, either. Smoking Gun PR is now handling PR duties for Manchester United Soccer Schools. Offering football training, unprecedented access to the world’s most illustrious league side, and English language lessons in conjunction with Oxford University Press, we’re happy to add another global brand to our burgeoning list of clients. Check out the global Facebook competition we’ve currently launched to find the School’s first ambassador.
Animal lovers are likely to be interested in two more of our recent client wins. Mysocialpetwork has now arrived in the UK after its German inception and does exactly what it says on the tin. From rats to cats, rabbits to horses, the new social network has already proved popular with pet owners and we’re predicting much more growth as the months go by. Meanwhile, a host of national media coverage and a slick video talent competition for Crufts evidenced how good a job we did with publicity for The Kennel Club’s legendary dog show.
All of which just about leaves enough space to mention that we picked up no less than two awards at the Golden Hedgehog ceremony in Manchester earlier this month. Our work for Nissan Shows It Cares picked up Best Consumer PR Campaign of the Year, meanwhile our celebrated staff took home Small Agency of the Year. More hard-earned success, it’s deserving of a pat on the back, albeit all hands are currently on deck representing the brands we love. Back to it then…
We were shocked… when the Government decided to draft up its own press regulation legislation following the Leveson inquiry, angering many investigative journalism outlets. Not least The Economist and New Statesman.
We were surprised… at The Telegraph’s announcement earlier this week that a subscription will now be charged in order to view more than 20 articles per month. We’ll see how that impacts on readership in the not-so-distant future.
We were impressed…. to hear The Mail On Sunday is increasing its entertainment content by replacing the Live supplement with Event. This new 80-page pull-out includes a sizeable 22-pages of critical reviews and articles. Look out for our review of it’s first edition mid-April.
We were depressed… when the Scotsman and Scotland On Sunday announced 30 job losses as circulation levels fell to half of what they were in 2007. We weren’t too surprised, though, given last month’s newsletter on the plight of regional press.
We laughed when… a UK MP took to Twitter and accused the BBC of speculating over the new Pope’s race after the broadcaster asked if smoke above the Vatican would turn white or black. Needless to say, so did millions of other people.
Things you need to see
‘We Didn’t Own An ipad’ is currently top of the UK viral chart according to The Guardian, with 1,636,087 views since March 8th. Not exactly original, nevertheless more than a few people are talking about it.
As referenced in this month’s story about Corporate Social Responsibility, we recently helped launch the Kumho Tyres Cash For Causes campaign. Our client’s infographic, below, proves the potential business benefits of such projects.
“Google and Facebook get away with things other companies wouldn’t.” Evgeny Morozov- author of To Save Everything, Click Here: Technology, Solutionism, and the Urge to Fix Problems that Don’t Exist- commenting on the rise of Silicon Valley, interestingly in the same week Google slammed China’s government for its attempts to control the Internet.
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Whether we participate ourselves, or it’s one of our friends, ‘social smoking’ is rife across the world. Some blame the booze, others dangerously weak willpower. Either way, it’s a very bad habit considering the health consequences, and as this Canadian Ministry of Health advert proves, the whole concept is ludicrous and rather pointless.
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Key reasons behind Apple’s success are reliability and after-purchase cover. At least that’s true for most of the world, whereas in China customers have to put up with reduced warranties and limited repair services once they buy one of the luxury computers. When the story broke Apple U.S. referred critics to the Beijing PR office, but so far no statement has been made. Maybe silence really does speak louder than words.
Things that might happen in the next week…
The petition to make online retail giant Amazon pay its fair share of UK income tax could well reach 100,000 signatures, Cypriot MPs will vote on bank reforms and capital control as the island becomes the latest insolvent European country, and on Thursday an NUJ-organised BBC strike will see staff leave their posts for a 12 hour walkout to protest compulsory redundancies, excessive workloads, bullying and harassment at the broadcaster.
Just in case you missed it…
Following the epic Leveson inquiry and subsequent report, Britain’s highly respected weekly news magazine sector, including New Statesman and The Spectator, has slammed the new press regulation reforms, with The Economist condemning the agreed deal as ‘a shameful hash’. 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!
On Wednesday the world’s largest message in a bottle was put to sea from Marina San Miguel, Tenerife. The stunt, which is to promote Norway’s Solo soda (spreading the ‘greatest drink on Earth’ across the planet), took months to prepare, featured in newspapers across the globe, and the oceanic odyssey can now be followed by logging onto Facebook (clue- change the language settings on the app to English first). Nice job.
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Before the new Pope was chosen ignorance caused Twitter chaos. A British MP accused the BBC of racism after it asked whether smoke above the Vatican would be black or white- referencing the centuries old method of declaring a new church leader, rather than speculating over his race. Elsewhere, thousands of social media users- including self-proclaimed ‘gurus’ and journalists- followed @JMBergoglio, a fake account set up under the name of the man now in charge of Catholicism, despite the content being blatantly sarcastic. Evidently translating Spanish to English for accuracy is too much effort…
Things that might happen in the next week…
The House of Commons will vote on David Cameron’s own proposals for press regulation following the Leveson inquiry on Monday, Tuesday sees the inauguration ceremony for the new Catholic chief Pope Francis, meanwhile Vogue Editor and ‘most powerful woman in fashion’, British born Anna Wintour- the inspiration for The Devil Wears Prada, will prepare for her new post as Artistic Director of luxury publishing behemoth Conde Naste.
Just in case you missed it…
Twitter is abandoning many versions of its subsidiary application TweetDeck, bought for $40million just two years ago. Chrome, browser-based, Mac and Windows versions will continue to be developed. 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!
