Category Archives: Public Relations

My interview with Ben Cotton

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Posted by Amy on April 6, 2010 – 1:49 pm
Filed under Public Relations

I recently did a Q&A with Ben Cotton advising graduates on how to break into the PR industry. I met Ben a few months ago when I interviewed him for a placement with Wolfstar. He’s since been offered a fantastic job at Edelman Digital and we’ve stayed in touch. As a graduate of the PR degree at Leeds Met I can empathise with students looking to get into PR, it was competitive five years ago and it’s even more so now.

I think I was very lucky when it came to gettng a job after Uni. For starters, I was lucky enough to get my work placement with Citypress. They were my number one choice for my year out because they had fantastic clients and were based in Manchester where I’d always fancied working. The team there were brilliant and gace me so many opportunities to get hands-on experience. If it hadn’t been for this, I wouldn’t have got my subsequent jobs at Waterside (Now Realm) and Morrisons, and finally Wolfstar.

It seems strange to be giving advice to other graduates.. it seems only five minutes ago I was doing the Otley Run in fancy dress and panicking about my dissertation in the library until 3am! Four years has gone extremely quickly but I’m really happy where I’ve ended up. Hopefully a couple of people will find what I said useful! You can read the interview on Ben’s blog.

Pepsi pull out of the Superbowl ad race – update and interview from Fox News

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Posted by Amy on February 8, 2010 – 3:57 pm
Filed under Consumer Social Media, Public Relations

I recently wrote about Pepsi’s decision to pull out of advertising at this year’s Superbowl. Last night on Fox News in America, Ed Butowsky from Chapwood Capital Investment, was being interviewed about this shift in strategy. He thinks Pepsi are simply appealing to the general feeling in America with their community idea and exciting it well. The video is below.

Ed Butowsky interview on Fox News

 

Interesting to see this hit Fox News… I think the announcement that Pepsi would not be advertising at the Superbowl was actually a very clever PR stunt to launch the community social media strategy and gain lots of attention both on and offline.

Dolce & Gabbana create beautiful film for new Sony Ericsson Jalou

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Posted by Amy on October 23, 2009 – 8:58 am
Filed under Consumer Social Media, Public Relations

This is a bit of a work-related post as Sony Ericsson is a client of Wolfstar, but I felt I had to post about it here too. Dolce & Gabbana has teamed up with Sony Ericsson so create a new phone called Jalou.

To promote this new device, Mr Dolce and Mr Gabbana have come up with a creative concept and produced an exclusive online video. Shot in Paris, this beautiful video features jealousy, glamour and desire to showcase the new Jalou.

CIPR Awards 2009

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Posted by Amy on September 3, 2009 – 12:47 pm
Filed under General, Public Relations

Well it’s award time again and here at Wolfstar we’ve just heard we’ve been nominated in three categories in the CIPR PRide Awards; Outstanding Consultancy, Best use of social media and Outstanding Young Communicator of the Year – that’s me! I’m so flattered to have been shortlisted, I’m not sure who else is up but sure they’ll be tough competition. It’s exciting to be nominated and I can’t wait for the awards!

We went to the awards last year and had a really good time, good excuse for the team to get together, have a few drinks and let our hair down (although we don’t really need that good an excuse.. see the evidence of Jed Hallam last year. Still my favourite photo of 2008.)

So, good luck to all the other shortlisted agencies and people – look forward to seeing you all there.

My day out with the mummy bloggers

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Posted by Amy on June 16, 2009 – 4:26 pm
Filed under Consumer Social Media, Public Relations

As part of my work for Wolfstar, we handle the social media for buggy manufacturer, Silver Cross. I really enjoy working on this account. Silver Cross is a great brand, that has proven it can retain its traditional and heritage roots, but update its product range and bring itself bang up to date - without compromising its identity.

Last week, we organised a special blogger meet-up for a selection of mummy bloggers at the Rainforest Cafe in London.

It was a little stressful trying to organise about 27 adults and 18 children in quite a small space with intermittent thunderstorms, but once we were all in it was really enjoyable.

It was lovely to meet all of the mums I’ve been working with so closely over the past few weeks - and obviously their adorable children!

To name just a few, I had chance to chat to and get to know Alpha Mummy, Wahm-Bam,NixdMinx, Noble Savage, Potty Mummy, Maternal Tales, And One More Means Four,Boozlebox, Home Office Mum, Diary of a Surprised Mum, Being a Mummy, Daddacool, Notes From Inside My Head, Thames Valley Mums, Part Mummy Part Me, Metropolitan Mum,Perfectly Happy Mum, London-Baby and the lovely Susanna who I’ve met a couple of times before too.

Thanks for a great day and I hope we can do it again soon!

How to create a successful social media campaign

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Posted by Amy Johnston on April 7, 2009 – 12:40 pm
Filed under Consumer Social Media, Public Relations, Word of Mouth

Conversations about brands are already happening, whether they like it or not. Brands can’t control their marketing and PR message the way they used to.

Consumers are in control and have an incredible power over a brand. Some companies are still scared about this, but it can be used to their advantage. By engaging with these consumers, brands can become involved in the conversation and built customer loyalty in a completely new way.

As social media gathers more momentum, marketers are integrating social media tools and using tools like blogs, social communities, forums, video content on You Tube and photo galleries on Flikr to add impact to their offering.

This means people can not only find out information about products, brands and services, but become part of the process. When it comes to building a community or outreaching to bloggers - an individual approach is key. You cannot generalise or use a blanket approach.

You must know your audience and this takes time. The space must be fully evaluated and the tools your audience uses, the things they talk about and the format they us must be noted. Only then can your offering be relevant and impactful.
For example, simply setting up a facebook group for a new brand or product is not enough. Social media (the clue’s in the title) is social. People love to talk about things they’re passionate about. If consumers are passionate about something, they’ll already be talking about it.

For example, Soap and Glory (who I’ve talked about before on this blog) have a facbook fan page with over 1,700 fans. This has been set up by consumers because they have passion for the brand.

Are Soap and Glory aware of this? It’s hard to say from the look of the page, there is a link to their website but that’s about the only clue. What is for sure is that they’re not using this tool to their advantage. There is hardly any content. No photos, no videos, no interaction or conversation with fans.

This strikes me as a wasted opportunity. Why not use the fan base as a research tool? Find out what they like about the brand, what new products they’d like to see. Or how about offering discounts and special offers?
The key to successful community building is responsiveness and personal engagement. Consumers want to see that Soap and Glory is a human organisation. If they engaged with their fans, they would increase their word of mouth online, have a direct line to their key audience and build a truly beneficial relationship with them.

PR and Journalism - the same thing?

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Posted by Amy Johnston on March 5, 2009 – 3:38 pm
Filed under General, Public Relations

My colleague Jed said today that journalists and PR people do the same job. This started some heated debate between Chris, Becca and I. We all totally disagreed with him and said the two professions were completely different.

Although they both utilise the same skills - writing, communication, relationships, storytelling - they are very different. Journalism is independent publishing with an aim to sell papers. PR is telling a story on behalf of a client in order to create a certain perception.

Wikipedia defines public relations as:

  • Public relations is the practice of managing the flow of information between an organization and its publics.

And journalism as:

  • Journalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material and comment via a widening spectrum of media.

I suppose it goes without saying that Jed’s statement has created some healthy debate on Twitter. What are your thoughts?

Hull the most romantic city?

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Posted by Amy Johnston on February 11, 2009 – 1:33 pm
Filed under Public Relations

I’ve just read a NIB in the Guardian saying that Hull has been voted the most romantic city. Second place is London; third place is Wolverhampton and fourth is Belfast.

This survey was done by a flower delivery company, which used the number of bouquets of flowers bought on Valentine’s Day to determine the league. I know this is just a quick-hit PR story, but I wondered which cities people really thought were the most romantic.

If I had to choose in the UK, I think I’d have to say Edinburgh. I love the city because it has everything - culture and beautiful sights; plus the cosmopolitan bars and restaurants.

If we were talking worldwide, it would have to be New York. For me, it’s the most amazing place ever. I love being able to wander round the leafy village, jump on the underground and be in Time Square, then go over to gorgeous Central Park and finish with some shopping on 5th Avenue! I’m totally in love with New York - so it’s the ultimate in romance for me!

How about you? Which do you think is the most romantic city and why?