I can just see the planning meeting over in the states for this one.
Creative 1: “I’ve had a great idea for a campaign for Dr Pepper”
Creative 2: “Please do share”
Creative 1: “Let’s get a flash mob to go down to the stock exchange and sing a song about Dr Pepper”
Creative 2: “Erm… didn’t T Mobile do something very similar in the UK, but at a train station”
Creative 1: “No, No they didn’t. You must be imagining things”
Creative 2: “Ok then. Let’s do it. But just to be on the safe side let’s water it down and make it really bad. Oh and slightly cringe worthy. We probably won’t get any decent media coverage, but loads of people will take a pop at how bad it is on their blogs. We can then turn round to the client and claim it was a success!”
Creative 1: “Great plan.”
So, here’s the result
If this was the plan congratulations, you intentionally made this really bad and got me talking about it on my blog. However, I’m 99% sure this wasn’t the case.
I have to admit I’m a bit perplexed as to the news that Manchester United has banned its players from using social networking. Surely a brand as big as Manchester United can see the bigger picture?
To some extent I can see what they are trying to achieve after incidents such as Darren Bent’s rant and Ryan Babel’s recent slip up. But surely in this case they must realise the power of brand advocacy.
Education in this case must be better than prevention. We tell our clients this day in day out that the powers that be can churn out comment day in day out, but there is no better internal brand advocate than an employee who is happy and understands the brand and goals.
So why should this be any different for Manchester United? The ticket buying public are guaranteed to pay more attention to the likes of Ryan Giggs or Wayne Rooney than they ever are to the things that the Glazers are telling them.
Surely it would be better to give the team lessons on good social media etiquette and educate them properly rather than a blanket ban.
Secondly, I am employed by Hatch Communications, but I am not owned by them so outside of the working day surly I can partake in as much social networking as I see fit providing it doesn’t impact directly upon my employer. Obviously it is a different case with footballers who’s job is also their life, but banning them. Really?
What is the next step for them? No mobile phones, no leaving the house, no socialising, no friends, a complete ban on all verbal communications with sign language limited to gestures that cannot be misconstrued?
In this case prevention certainly isn’t better than cure.
Yet again it’s been a while. My New Year’s resolution this year has been to post more. But before I do, a quick catch up.
Since my last post I have…. Had a lovely two week break in Portugal, worked a lot, won some awards from the CIPR with Hatch Communications, worked some more, carried out a really great campaign for visitbirmingham.com, had a skiing holiday in Austria, worked, had Christmas, drunk lots and worked some more.
So there we are back up to speed.
I will endeavour to post more in the next few days.
First off, apologies, it’s been a while. Secondly, apologies, I hope to make this blog a lot more interesting.
This will start after this post.
As many of my colleagues, past, present and probably future, will point out I am pretty shit at making tea. Not in the process of actually putting the tea bag in the mug etc, I’m not an idiot. No, my problem with making tea is with actually getting up to do it. Its not that I’m lazy, I just very rarely feel the urge for a brew, unless that is someone asks me if I want one, then I am all over it like a rash.
I am constantly being goaded and moaned at for this. What my colleagues fail to realise is that me and peer pressure sit at very different ends of the table, in fact I am more likely to do the exact opposite to what people are attempting to push me in to. Read more…
I have been more than a little bit lax since starting this blog. Mainly because I have done exactly what I knew I would do and find myself too busy (read lazy) to get a regular stream of posts up.
So after having a quiet word with myself at the weekend, I thought I should get something up ASAP before my inner monolog started kicking off with me again.
So here goes.
I am, for my sins, a Wolves fan. Lifelong I may add, not one of these glory-seeking fans joining us when the silverware started flowing in. Oh wait, they don’t exist. Mainly because before the triumphant season of 2009, the last thing we won was in May 1988, when a held aloft the much converted Sherpa Van Trophy. Ah… the halcyon days……
Anyway I digress. Being a Wolves fan I am very much looking forward to the coming season, when we will be battling it out for a bottom of the table finish, hoping that we don’t break Sunderland’s record in the process.
I have read with interest over the past few days about how the recession is hitting the 16-24 age group hardest of all, with the number of young people out of work in Britain at its highest level for 15 years.
Specifically relating to the PR industry, I cant help but feel sorry for all of this years graduates, many of whom are set to face a disheartening few months searching for a job.
At the same time however, I read today’s Drum magazine and have to agree 100% with Uncle Carl’s agony column. It is forever littered with companies asking, “what’s best to look for in new recruits” and “what interview techniques will get the very best staff members”. But for the first time in I don’t know how long, a graduate has written in to the magazine asking how best to approach interviews and how they can make themselves more attractive to potential employers. This person’s efforts should be commended. Read more…
Its awards time in the Hatch Communications office, and between trying to juggle all of our client work we are also trying to shoehorn in filling out and preparing a number of awards for this year’s CIPR Pride Awards.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am a big believer in the whole awards thingy that all industries partake in. It’s not just about the glory, backslapping and getting one over on other agencies. Nor is it about getting hideously drunk, dancing like an arse and making a pass at the work experience girl, who suddenly after eight pints and a few Read more…
In the current economic downturn, client budgets are becoming ever more restricted and demands on time and resources pushed to the extreme as everyone is trying their utmost to justify their position. The pressure for agencies to meet the demands of clients has meant that, in an industry where over-servicing has always been an issue, agencies are finding themselves over-servicing to an even higher level and so PR is increasingly delivering more, for less.
All this time spent servicing an agency’s current client portfolio can certainly be beneficial to future relationships and is sure to lead to a stronger understanding of the value of PR by the client. Read more…
The NLA (Newspaper Licensing Authority) has announced that it is going to start charging agencies to forward links to clients of press cuttings on newspaper websites. It’s madness.
The health of the PR industry is integrally linked with that of the media. The sector relies on us, just as we rely on it, yet we are being asked to pay further fees in a recession, with little information on exactly what the funds are used for and for whose benefit. Read more…
