PR Gossip - Part 3

Ricky Gervais, blogging legend!

Posted by Amy on August 14, 2009 – 11:07 am

Filed under Consumer Social Media, General

I’m a huge fan of Ricky Gervais, I was slightly addicted to the Office, loved Extras and am actually obsessed with the podcasts – Karl Pilkington is my hero!

I’ve been reading his blog for a while and thought I’d flag it up as a great example of using social media well, and of how to tailor your approach to your audience.

Ricky’s humour transcends through his posts and you can tell they’re genuinely from him. He’s currently filming his new movie in America, so uses the blog to diary his progress. There are loads of photographs from on set and sneaky previews of what’s to come. In addition, the blog links to all recent coverage about Ricky and Steve, and any of their ventures into TV or film.

It’s a great blog and genuinely makes me laugh out loud sometimes – especially the screensaver he’s produced, nice!

Just gutted I missed tickets for Science, so if anyone has two spare get in touch!

Bruno’s LA PR girls are giving the rest of us a bad name

Posted by Amy on July 14, 2009 – 9:00 am

Filed under Consumer Social Media

On Friday night my boyfriend and I went to see Bruno. We’re both massive Sacha Baron Cohen fans and were really excited about seeing the film.

There was really no escaping Bruno, over the past few weeks I’ve seen him absolutely everywhere. I love how SBC only does interviews in character, and there were some ingenious tactics used to promote the film, such as Bruno taking a front page of Marie Claire magazine as a guest stylist. Using his alter-ego meant he had access into a completely different section of the media and was able to dominate the press running up to the film’s launch.

The social media tactics used were also really innovative and impactful. Bruno created a personal URL at www.meinspace.com where you could see the trailer, biog and links to other social networks. His Twitter account and facebook pages were both active and in character with over 48,000 followers. In addition to the online campaign and the assault on the traditional media, Bruno also created a number of stunts such as falling onto Eminem’s lap at the MTV Awards (attracting over 600,000 views on You Tube so far), creating a truly integrated and exciting campaign.

The film was amazing. Albeit at some parts I was watching from behind my boyfriend’s shoulder because I was cringing so much! SBC is a real comedy genius and has to be one of the bravest men out there!

However, one scene compelled me to write this blog post. Half way through the film, Bruno goes to an LA PR firm to get advice about how charitable work can help raise your profile in Hollywood. He’s met by two sisters, Nicole and Suzie, who are quite possibly the most stupid cretins I’ve ever seen. That’s not an exaggeration, they can barely speak – if you’ve seen it you’ll know what I mean, they struggle to form sentences.

Bruno asks about Darfur. The sisters reply by saying “that’s a hot charity right now”. This is despite not knowing where Darfur is. When Bruno suggests Darfur is old hat, and that Dar-five might be better, they simply nod and agree.

During this scene my boyfriend was looking at me and smiling, making a sarcastic dig about my job in PR. Girls like Suzie and Nicole give PR girls a bad name. It’s obvious there is still a stereotype surrounding women in PR – perhaps even stemming back to the Ab Fab days. I did a degree in PR and have lots of friends working in the industry. All of them are intelligent, focused, articulate and funny. It’s a shame we’re sometimes still portrayed as fluffy party organisers.

I began to wonder if any women working in PR still feel this stereotype exists, or whether things have moved on since the days of Patsy and Edina?

Suzie and Nicole need not respond.

Technorati Tags: Bruno,social media,integrated campaign,Sacha Baron Cohen

My day out with the mummy bloggers

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!

Email.. it’s not quite like the post

Posted by Amy on June 16, 2009 – 4:11 pm

Filed under General

It was recently my mum’s birthday and she was a bit surprised when she didn’t get a card from her mum and dad (my nana and grandad). Nana is usually really organised and wouldn’t forget a card.

When we went round for a drink the next week, my grandad asked her if she’d got their card. Mum said no and it transpired they’d sent her an e-card! My nana and grandad are both online, but their knowledge generally spans booking flights on Jet 2 and checking the cinema times. However, they’d done their bit for the environment and and sent an e-card.

Mum said no, she hadn’t received it and asked which email address he’d sent it to. He said, “I tried to send it to your work email address but it kept bouncing back. So I took your surname off and it worked fine!”

Mum and I tried to explain every letter had to be right in an email address and you can’t just make it up or delete bits. They didn’t really get it.

I think their ideas about email are based on the old Royal Mail system that if you get even half the address right, the letter will EVENTUALLY get there.

Nevertheless, I thought it was a cute story worth sharing. At 72 and 69, I think they’re doing pretty well when it comes to technology (my nana knows more text speak than me) and I’ll be sure to keep an eye on my inbox for my very own e-card coming soon

Technorati Tags: Royal Mail,email,ecard

M&S introduce ‘green’ receipts, why not go one step further?

Posted by Amy Johnston on April 15, 2009 – 12:25 pm

Filed under General, Word of Mouth

I’ve just read an article in the Guardian about Marks and Spencer introducing a new, more environmentally friendly receipt using “thinner paper and 8% less pulp.”

On the surface, this sounds like a great step forward and I think M&S should be applauded for their efforts to be environmentally sound (their Plan A campaign is brilliant). However, as a cynic - one who has worked in the retail sector - I’m a bit dubious.

Is it the law for retailers to provide a receipt? I didn’t think so - if you go to a small shop or market stall you don’t get one.

Surely, if the large retailers asked each customer if they required a receipt, they would cut the number the needed printing in the first place by hundreds of thousands. I personally have about 15 receipts gathering at the bottom of my bag from lunches, drinks etc that I will inevitably bin when I have the motivation to clear out my handbag.

The supermarkets have been under a lot of pressure to cut carrier bag use, and as such have taken steps to remove them from the tills. People have to ask for bags now and this has seen numbers drop dramatically.

Could they not operate the same policy with receipts? The article says they use a lot of paper for receipts – so surely any savings would be good for the environment and for their profits? It would be interesting to find out if this is possible, and if so, why more retailers aren’t doing it.

Technorati Tags: Marks and Spencer,CSR,Environment

When facebook goes too far…

Posted by Amy Johnston on April 8, 2009 – 8:58 am

Filed under General

Well, I opened my facebook this morning to see an invite to a new event. I thought it might be a girlie night out or someone’s birthday. No. It was an invitation to a wedding. Someone who I’ve not spoken to or seen since I finished high school almost nine years ago has invited me to their wedding via facebook.

Now I love facebook and the way you can stay in touch with your friends, nosey at photos and easily invite your friends to parties with the click of a button, but surely this is too far.

Firstly, I suppose it brings up the old social media debate of ‘who is a real friend’ online? I have nothing against this guy, but we weren’t even close mates at school – let alone nine years on.

Secondly, since when did facebook become an acceptable way to mass invite people to attend the most special day of your life? Will he even recognise half the people at his wedding?

The event page wall is full of comments like ‘would love to mate but on a course’ and ‘nice 2 ere from u mate, soz can’t make it.’ Is this really a fitting rsvp for someone’s wedding?! Am I being old fashioned or is this the future?

Maybe it’s my fault for accepting the friend request in the first place. This has definitely made me think it’s time for a facebook friend cull. And when it’s my turn to get married, I’ll be sticking to hard copy invites in the post.

How to create a successful social media campaign

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.

Consumer Social Media

Email.. it’s not quite like the post

M&S introduce ‘green’ receipts, why not go one step further?

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