Travel – standing out in a crowded market

Travel, Travel, Travel – I love it. I’m the most renowned traveler of my friends, colleagues, peers and family and having worked in the industry for many years it’s easy to get addicted.

However making an impact as a travel business is not a straight forward journey. You’re competing against thousands of holiday destinations from Bournemouth to The Cotswolds, Brazil to Suriname; you’re up against travel agents and tour operators, excursions, escapes and experiences, online travel agents and member websites, plus all the gadgets, gizmos, and gear that go with traveling.

From a PR perspective most publications offer just a couple of travel pages, and often to a destination, and national press have their travel supplements.  It really does limit your PR options. To stand out in the crowded travel market you really need to do something spectacular and that really means thinking off the beaten path.

Gain genuine consumer media interest and you can ditch the supplements and travel features and work your way through the main sections of your target publications. And to achieve this you need to look way beyond your product, instead at the 1) experience you offer 2) the way you operate 3) who you work with and 4) who’s behind the company.

Find those special stories that make you stand out as a business, but also look at your core values and discover how you can represent these through experiential PR and events, partnerships and endorsements. When budgets are tight, always look to business partners and associates for support – working in collaboration can really help the budgets go further; and could deliver an exciting prospect to the consumer press.

HOW TO – tackle the media

Destinations

Connect with the audience, appeal to the travelers you want most, and deliver the brand you want them to experience when they are visiting your destination. Help them breath, smell, and visualise where their travels will take them.

Travel businesses (Tour Operators/Travel Agents)

Demonstrate how you do things differently, communicate the experience, get your timing right when communicating to the media to optimise your sales performance across national and consumer press.

Online travel businesses

Keep the momentum going, be innovative with promotions, products, visuals and especially social media. It’s innovative and engaging content that will help you gain attention, even from the most skeptical journalists.

Timings for great travel exposure:

October – January:

It’s all about: summer holidays, weekend breaks/short trips, bargain deals, inspiration, winter vs summer.

Between Christmas and New Year the travel sales are in full swing and people plan and start booking their vacations for the next year. Take advantage of this time and make sure you’re as visible as you can be. If Boxing Day, 26^th December, is the most popular day for travel search you need to start at least two months before, just so you can feature in the Christmas issues of glossy magazines. Drive your PR campaign throughout January and you are likely to pick-up a lot of traffic, especially as Europe is dull, grey and cold and people are keen to plan a warm getaway.

February – April:

It’s all about: early summer breaks, executive travel/non families.

Those families looking to budget and strapped for cash may have already booked their one holiday vacation a year, but you now have the chance to target the slightly more wealthy – those looking to do something different, which means you can avoid everything that was covered between October and January. It’s time to market for Easter, and appeal to the No Kids market with vacations before the schools break-up.

May – July:

It’s all about: Last minute breaks, kids’ holidays, quick escapes.

We’re back to the bargain hunters and families who are finally making up their mind for their summer vacation. On the other side you have the ‘power-couples no kids’ who want quick weekend escapes. This is your last chance to maximise the summer and get in those last minute bookings.

August – September:

It’s all about: Executive/non families, quick breaks, Christmas, the following summer.

More families are traveling at Christmas so do target this market, although on the whole it will be quiet for families. Instead remember the high-disposable income couples that want a quick break in the autumn and winter when other people’s children are at school. It’s also a chance to sell special offers for the end of Summer. Finally, incredibly budget conscious families will be looking towards next year’s vacation so they have a year to save – time to inspire them.

By Ryan C Haynes, travel media PR specialist

Everything you wanted to know about SIX

It’s Wordville’s sixth birthday and we’re celebrating in the village.  

It’s been an amazing year - working internationally, helping start-ups become well-known, working with established brands to redefine their image and dominating the press across travel, technology, professional services and finance. We've been fortunate to be in a position to help shine some light on organisations whose innovation and flare deserves the attention. But it's the long shadows that they cast that have been most rewarding to be part of - whether it's bringing solar power to the developing world, influencing design or improving driving safety. 

And, as we’re all glowing with birthday spirit, it’s time to open Wordville’s PR Surgery.  Let the ribbons be cut and the orange squash be quaffed; the health of your PR can only get even better.  

PR ER – If you’ve got a question you want an answer to and you need it quick, then drop an email to info@wordville.net – our PR agony aunts and uncles are standing by to give you a free response to ‘who should I contact?’, ‘what’s the press day for that magazine?’, ‘why doesn’t the feature editor love me anymore?’

A Second Opinion? – You may be in the middle of an on-going PR campaign or reviewing your first draft marketing plan for the year ahead – we can offer another expert view.  We won’t charge you but will offer our opinion on the approach, the timings and the targets. 

Reputational Therapy – And if things have gone a little more pear-shaped then we’re sympathetic.  If you want to speak to a communication specialist who knows that the rough can come with the smooth, then drop in for tea and sympathy – and a plan for how to improve the word on the street if it’s not what you need it to be.

We’re only keeping Wordville’s Surgery open for our birthday month – it’s not that we don’t care but we’ve got work to do.  So get in touch and pick our brains this month. 

Birthday greetings and thanks to all for your support this year.

Flying visit

This morning, I was browsing the news online and came across a link to an interesting feature about unusual ways businesses have innovated. Naturally intrigued, I clicked on the link, patiently waiting the 2-3 seconds it takes for my computer to load a page. However, after my wait, I am not met with my most innovative businesses feature. Instead, my screen turns a transparent blue and I am met with a picture of an animated plane zooming across a page. What is this? I can vaguely make out my article behind it, so I search around the plane, which is now making a chugging sound and omitting several puffs of (hopefully eco-friendly) smoke, for an ‘X’.

No ‘X’ in sight. I try to avoid the plane, thinking that if I click on a blue area behind it, it might disappear. But the plane seems to be one step ahead of me; as I move my mouse, it mirrors my movements. There appears to be no escape from this thing.

What does it even want? Why won’t it go away?

After about a minute of trying to dodge this plane, I finally succumbed to what it obviously wanted me to do – I clicked on it. Perhaps if I did this, it would go away. Within nanoseconds, another webpage appeared. I don’t even know what it was about as I was so annoyed I immediately shut the page. But whoever it was that sent that little plane to harass me perhaps got what they wanted – a click through to their website. Even if it was done just to get rid of that damn plane.

It made me wonder how many unscrupulous websites build up their “unique visitor” numbers through tactics like this. Pop-up ads and links are becoming increasingly common and often they are designed to make you click on them in error (when they keep following your mouse around) rather than creating engaging content that people actually want to read.

I admit I don’t know much about click-through rates and advertising, but I can have a guess that the more unique visitors a website has, the more it can charge companies for advertising space. Perhaps companies with online advertising budgets are already onto this; many of them no doubt have teams trained to source potential ad spaces that will offer a genuine, targeted audience – one where the average website visiting time is more than 0.001 seconds. But for those companies that are choosing an online space for their adverts based on unique visitors alone – beware. 

By Jess Matthias 

Being happy can make you sad

Recent research from the US has shown that being happy can be harmful. Something you can probably relate to if you’re tucking into a big piece of chocolate cake. Right now.

But apparently watching a video of a cute cat can also have the same outcome.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina and UCLA, asked 80 test subjects questions about pleasure (hedonic well-being) and purpose (eudaimonic well-being). Results showed that those who were happy, but had little meaning in their lives showed genetic patterns associated with chronic stress; whereas those who spoke of having meaning in their lives had a less stressful genetic profile.

So this means the happiness you feel when your football team wins the cup, or you find a bargain on ASOS, isn’t good for you in the long run.

As a nation, 81% of us gave ourselves a seven or more out of ten when asked if we felt the things in our lives were worthwhile. But who and what can determine whether a life is worthwhile? Is it a successful career? Growing a family? Or pursuing your passion you always put off for the daily grind?

Albert Einstein once said: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile”.

We live in a world that seems to be obsessed with material things, social networks and celebrities and yet many of us are hungry for happiness. Whilst, as stated earlier, these material things can make you instantly happy – it’s not permanent. Giving something back – whether it’s quality time with loved ones or travelling half way round the world to volunteer in a local community – provides a purpose. 

Several brands have picked up on our fascination with happiness and used it to help build stronger connections with consumers. One Chicago-based company, Dream Champs, launched in 2011 with the tagline “Because Life is Too Short to do Work You Hate”. The company helps users identify their values and connect them with like-minded companies through a website and seminar series.

Consumer brands also play a role in creating meaningful experiences through their products and services. Burt’s Bees, the maker of eco-friendly bath and beauty products, is a great example of this. Employees at the company spend up to 30 business hours a year to ‘do good’. Last year, the company closed its North Carolina HQ office so workers could join volunteers to build an eco-friendly playground. And this year, Burt’s Bees donated 400 pairs of jeans to charity Habitat for Humanity, which repurposed them to insulate new homes.

TOMS is also another inspiring example of philanthropy. For every pair of shoes you buy, the company donates a pair of new shoes to a deserving child. They find communities that will benefit most from receiving the shoes and where local businesses won’t be negatively affected. It’s the small things like these that have the biggest impact.

So the next time you want that chocolate cake, maybe offer it to someone else...

By Stephanie Rock 

Front cover faux pas

Following weeks of hot weather headlines, we've finally been exposed to an exciting new topic – the future King has been born.

But despite this being a monumental moment in British history, some magazines still manage to devise something negative to publish about the supposedly joyous occasion. OK! magazine released a cover story the day after baby George was born, boasting about having talked to Kate’s personal trainer on how she is going to lose the baby weight. It is the timing of this cover article which I find most disagreeable, giving it just a day before Kate’s baby weight has been publicly highlighted. This could not be further from the fundamental news that a future King has been born.

These disfigured views on what’s important are a reflection on society in general. If magazines are writing what sells, then this bad press sells. It most certainly has given OK! magazine an enormous amount of publicity which is never a bad thing for the company. Even if the reasoning for the publicity isn’t a good thing, some may say bad press is better than no press at all.

Members of the public took to twitter to express their outrage. The hashtag #Don’tBuyOK was created in an attempt to boycott sales of the magazine. The social networking site gave an opportunity for the public to create a strong resistance against OK! magazine which they could not ignore. OK! released a public statement:

“Kate is one of the great beauties of our age and OK! readers love her. Like the rest of the world, we were very moved by her radiance as she and William introduced the Prince of Cambridge to the world.

We would not dream of being critical of her appearance. If this was misunderstood because of our cover it was not intended.”

In my opinion, this statement is full of empty words. To claim that ‘OK! readers love her’ completely contradicts what they have published. If they really did love her –  they would focus on the happiest times of her life rather than how glamorous she should look a few days after giving birth? OK! magazine’s intentions are clear. Their fundamental aim is to sell magazines and make money.

There has to be a line however on what can go on the shelves. This kind of abuse is published everyday about celebrities, but it has taken comments aimed at Kate Middleton for it to be addressed. Considering that the editorial board of OK! magazine is majority female, including the official Editor Kirsty Tyler (who coincidently has only been in the chair for a few weeks), they should be ashamed of themselves. Whether it is royalty or not the message portrayed is morally wrong.

Regardless of the magazine’s sales and publicity, it can not be considered commendable.

By Louise Greenway

Redemption for dry bars

Last weekend saw the opening of alcohol-free bar, Redemption, the brainchild of Ex-Virgin Marketer, Catherine Salway.

If thoughts of you, sipping away on your umpteenth fizzy beverage while secretly longing for a vodka cocktail or glass of Prosecco creep into your mind- banish them immediately. Redemption is set to be unlike any other alcohol-free venue and I have to admit, with its combination of coconut martinis and cool ice-teas, the drinks list does sound aptly refreshingly.

With these temptations, alongside live music and guest DJ’s on offer, one could easily live without a stiff drink. However- and there always seems to be a but with too-good-to-be-true ventures-  the food available will be an unflinchingly virtuous vegetarian menu. Ahhhhh why is there always catch?

But is it all a bit too healthy?

Having already converted to an alcohol-free life, I’m rather taken with the idea dancing the night away among other fully-fledged teetotallers. A life without naughty snacks however- potatoes smothered in melted cheese or a handful of chocolate M&Ms- seems too hard to handle. Don’t we all need a little indulgence of some sort? A guilty pleasure to make the week complete? I’m not convinced by any concept that rejects all kinds of dietary misbehaviour.

Redemption isn’t a revolutionary idea. The first dry bars appeared back in 2007 in the north of the country, starting with ‘The Halal Inn’ in Oldham, Greater Manchester, aimed primarily at Muslims wanting to socialise away from alcohol consumption. Redemption differs in approach from many of the dry bars of the past by not alienating a large group of the population. It does not position itself as the reserve of specific religious groups or AA members, redeeming it to some extent in my estimation.

The pop-up venue, Netil House, Hackney, opens its doors to the public on 21^st July for the next ten consecutive Sundays, before Redemption takes up permanent residency in West London. Right now, with the sun glaring through the office windows, I can’t imagine a better way to spend a chilled-out Sunday with friends than sipping a guilt-free Mocktail. And without the worry of hangovers on Monday Morning. Bliss….

By Manny Sidhu 

Who’s making our decisions?

My name’s Imogen Catterall, I’m 17 and for the past week I’ve been doing work experience at Wordville PR and marketing agency.

It sounds strange but I have always been blissfully unaware of myself as a consumer. I have never given a second thought to the decision process behind my purchases, or how the behind-the-scenes activities of marketers may affect them. I had no idea of the forces at play. Until I came to Wordville that is.

One week spent at the agency, where the impact of every word on a client’s reputation is considered, has made something as simple as shopping at M&S an enlightening experience. Suddenly I’m questioning what I think about products and brands and, more importantly, why I think them.

So I was in M&S buying my lunch and I found myself documenting the numerous factors on which my choice depended: Does it look nice? How many calories are in it? What’s the cost? Will I enjoy it? And were the companies thinking of me, taking these questions into account when designing and making these products.

As soon as I entered the store I went over to the drinks section and picked up a pink lemonade. My attention had been caught by the bright pink liquid and the fact it seemed lighter and healthier than other choices e.g. a coke. Marketers would have considered both the label and bottle shape when deciding how to appeal to their target consumer. The label had a simple but encouraging design, with an upside down bottle cap, pink writing and a pink background to match the drink- not too much going on outside, no unnecessary ingredients inside- seemed to be the subliminal message.

Once I’d chosen my drink, food was next on the agenda. After a painful five minute deliberation process, I finally selected what I wanted. But what was it about the roasted vegetable cous cous that made me bite the bullet? How had it been made to appeal to me? First, it looked wholesome and healthy- something that I occasionally make an effort to be. The transparent packaging and clear nutritional information helped confirm this image, making me think that it couldn’t lead me that far off my route to a beach-ready bod. In a raw nutshell- this product projected a ‘what you see is what you get’ image. And what I saw looked good.  

Without my time at Wordville I would never have noticed any of these things or realised how the littlest thing can affect a consumer’s decisions and their perception of a brand.

By Imogen Catterall

If you want to get on – get out

If it ever feels like the hands on your watch spin around like a propeller, I’m right with you. Despite the life-enhancing technologies, convenience culture and super-speed connectivity to everything, there’s never enough time. What that can mean is that the ‘desk’ becomes the factory. You clock into your laptop, wherever you are, and start dealing with the conveyor belt of communication that is delivered to you minute by minute.  It’s efficient. You tick off hundreds of requests like a Selfridges Santa, motivated by the satisfaction of keeping the queue down.

But creative people must engage with the world.  And I don’t mean through Tumblr and Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn and Snapchat.  It sometimes takes a breath of fresh air – a genuine breath of fresh air – before you recognise how much you needed to get out in the breeze.

Yesterday I attended a roundtable debate at the Institute of Directors on flexibility at work. A good subject and something I feel strongly about.  Something that we hold dear at Wordville because it’s our view that the most creative people are those with full lives- those resourceful, engaged, social individuals who take on responsibilities and are connected to their communities. They require flexibility and we’re happy to trade a more open-minded working structure for their commitment to making our agency unmatched for originality and service.

So I was excited to have a discussion about a favourite subject. What I hadn’t given myself time to consider were the people I was going to meet – from entrepreneur Tracey Bovingdon (http://www.tea-monkey.com/Index.aspx) to Microsoft Envisioning Officer, Dave Coplin to Havas UK Group Chairman Kate Robertson – and the effect they would have on me.  It was terrific to be inspired by a group of 11 informed, opinionated, open-minded business folk.

I loved the debate – we didn’t all agree – but the interaction was invigorating. Getting to grips with different businesses, different approaches and different views is always enlightening.  I love the ‘art of business’ – and enjoy engaging with clients, the press, the analyst community and my colleagues and partners.  It’s important to step in amongst a group of strangers now and again. It changes how you feel. You may not feel you have the time to do this¸ but believe me – you don’t have the time not to.

By Lucy George

How not to make an argument

I doubt we were the only PR people that watched askance as Katie Hopkins, already of dubious public image, crucified her reputation live on This Morning last week.

Hopkins, who first achieved notoriety in 2007 after appearing in BBC reality TV series, The Apprentice, was on This Morning’s sofa to discuss children’s’ names. What with the royal baby fast approaching, this is a hot topic and one that Katie has some outrageous and unfounded opinions on.

Over the duration of the segment, Katie denounced a number of children’s names. She said they were implicit of the parents’ lower socio-economic status (and therefore poor attitude to education and discipline) and that she would try and keep her children away from any child bearing them.

The appalling ignorance of Katie’s ramblings and the numerous counter-points to them, have by now been well documented in the media. What I found equally shocking about her appearance was the lack of preparation in her argument and her method of conduction, which riled the audience and This Morning’s usually unflappable presenters.

From the interview’s outset, Katie adopts a mode of speech that assumes everyone else in the discussion is of the same opinion as her. Her lack of preparation is then made laughably apparent when it becomes clear that this is not the case. She has no discernable evidence for her assertions- any statistics identifying a correlation between names and criminality etc. and in consequence is left just sharing opinions that are easily bulldozed.

She shortens Holly Willoughby’s name to ‘Hols’ – a gesture at best over-familiar, at worst patronising and goes on, much to Phillip Schofield’s dismay, to attribute her own opinions to the presenter through the baffling over-use of ‘we’ and ‘our’.

Now I’m prepared to admit that Katie has made a living out of being controversial. Perhaps she feels she does not need to prepare an argument, that it is suffienent to turn up, make assertions in an abrasive manner and watch the media storm unfurl. Even so, I cannot see this as a long-term career strategy. Any flash-in-the pan celebrity can be hired to say something, far fewer to say something intelligent.

My advice to Katie would be… If you want a career in social commentary, found your case on fact not opinion, respond to counter-arguments with more than just reassertions and respect the intelligence of your opponents. 

By Polly Robinson

#GuardianCoffee

Last week saw the establishment of Guardian Coffee, a coffee shop incarnation of the liberal newspaper. Surprisingly for an enterprise associated with a national news publication, the launch was handled with a very softly, softly approach, building gradual momentum on twitter rather than announcement with trumpets and fanfare.

But was this such a bad thing?

The launch strategy actually demonstrated The Guardian’s report with its readership and an awareness of the way news is being both gathered and consumed. News is no longer a one-way service, more a starting point for debate. This theme continues in the coffee shop itself, which projects select (and yes I do mean selected), posts from The Guardian’s twitter feed on its walls.

As could be suspected, the enterprise was met with mixed reviews and a fair few snide remarks. Some wondered whether it represented a much-needed revenue stream in the face of slumping print sales, whilst others pondered how The Guardian’s left-leaning ethos might impact on the menu. How could a straight black or flat-white be made more politically correct?

Traditionalists may snigger at The Guardian branching out into coffee, but to me the move is so blatantly in line with brand values that it does seem a natural rather than radical step. A Guardian oyster bar in One New Change would be laughable, but set in socially mobile Shoreditch, serving locally roasted coffee and sandwiches on ‘un-levesoned’ bread, Guardian Coffee is supremely self-aware.  It merely supplies existing fans with another way to ingest the brand.

By Polly Robinson

How much does cool cost? $1.1 billion if you’re Yahoo

When Yahoo officially announced it had brought micro-blogging site Tumblr on Monday (20^th May), it didn’t come as a real shock, as whispers of the impending deal first surfaced last week.

In the lead up to and since the buy-out, the Internet has been flooded with articles, discussions and outrage. Experts say the deal is part of Yahoo’s efforts to revive the struggling company by attracting a younger, trendier audience (Tumblr is strongest in the 18-24 age bracket). Not only does the deal give access to younger users but also a fast-growing number of consumers who are, in general, very engaged online.

Yahoo says it expects to grow Tumblr’s audience by 50% to more than a billion monthly visitors and to grow traffic by approximately 20%. The million – or should I say billion -dollar question is: how does Yahoo plan to monetize Tumblr? Something Tumblr itself has never done. Pre-Melissa Mayer (Yahoo’s CEO), the web pioneer had a miserable reputation of taking on new companies and doing nothing with them (think 2005 - Flickr and Delicious). Mayer has been proactive in addressing users concerns and preempting media backlash by releasing a statement on the same day via her newly acquired Tumblr account, promising not to ‘screw it up’ and even poking fun at the buy-out.

http://marissamayr.tumblr.com/post/50902274591/im-delighted-to-announce-that-weve-reached-an

However this hasn’t stopped 72,000 people exporting their Tumblr blogs to rival blogging site Wordpress on Sunday evening.

I think its safe to say we won’t be witnessing the birth of ‘Yahooblr’ but with a price tag of $1.1 billion (£723m), there’s no doubt there are some anxious shareholders waiting for answers on how to monetize the blogging site, and quickly. I expect it will take a similar route to YouTube, after Google bought them in 2006, with the introduction of advertising and other monetizing services onto the site. It’s been a commercial success for Google because content marketing is more accepted by young millennial users now - the audience that Yahoo is courting.

Yahoo would be stupid to storm in and make radical changes, this would only serve to alienate users in their masses, something they have promised not to do. Founder David Karp will remain at Tumblr as CEO. Karp has been quick to defend the buy-out by pointing out the benefits to users of joining up with the ‘original internet company’. According to Karp - Tumblr will only get faster and better.

It’ll be interesting to see Tumblr evolve. To me, there are two big, immediate challenges Mayer and Karp are going to be faced with: How to remain cool when you are owned by a less cool corporate entity and how to monetize Tumblr without alienating users?

Here are some of my favorite Tumblr responses: 

By Pema Seely

The meme takeover

The Harlem Shake and Gangnam Style spread like wildfire on our screens earlier this year. But are brands that are cashing in on these latest crazes being lazy or cleverly responding to a cultural phenomenon?

Everyone has jumped on the bandwagon – Topshop’s version of the Harlem Shake involved newest supermodel on the block, Cara Delevingne and reached over 1.4 million views on YouTube. Electric cigarettes brand, Elites, featured a baby taking his first steps before breaking into Gangnam Style and has been viewed 1.7 million times. 

Not everyone has got it right. Pepsi’s Harlem Shake edition was met with criticism for killing off the trend by making it too corporate and overtly promotional, whilst Wonderful Pistachio’s take on the dance craze, aired at the Super Bowl, was only the 20^th most shared advert of the event.

Memes are nothing new, but the increase of their online exposure is. Within three days, the amount of Harlem Shake videos online increased from 12,000 to 40,000 and had accumulated 175 million views. 

Memes also have a very short life span at when they are most effective. Brands that have come out on top have been quick to react to the latest trend and have captured the collective imagination as a result. Although Ask.com pre-empted criticism of their two-week late reincarnation with the pre-fix message, “Yeah, yeah, we know. We just couldn’t pass up the biggest meme of the week”, the 12,000 views generated hardly constituted viral success. 

A great advert doesn’t have to stem from a craze though. Take the Evian adverts for example. The inaugural edition of the award-winning ‘Roller Babies’ advert back in 2009 has a record 67 million views online – the most ever for an ad, holding a Guinness World Record. Now, there’s no such thing as an original idea, but what Evian did was no doubt clever and creative. Even the use of babies wasn’t new (Etrade babies golfed in adverts) but Evian’s was amusing, entertaining and puzzling – some could say some of the babies were slightly creepy.  

The water brand is hoping to beat its own record with this year’s advert ‘Baby & Me’. Launched a couple of weeks ago, the advert follows the same, fun loving approach as the 2009 ad, channelling the brand’s ‘live young’ strapline. A group of adults dance around in front of a reflective shop window and discover their reflections are, in fact, baby versions of themselves. The advert has received over 45 million views to date. It seems that, for the public, a good advert needs to be memorable, not meme full.

By Stephanie Rock 

Is PR in need of a professional remedy?

This week Ruth Wyatt asked PR Week readers whether Public Relations had been neglecting its own reputation. I would love to say of course not, that PRs are as loved as organic farmers and as respected as foreign aid workers, but that would be a lie (and therefore perpetuate the problem).

On announcing my profession, I’m often met with one of three responses:

• The Edina- Issued by those overly familiar with Ab Fab, this involves repeating what you’ve just said back to you in a loud, plumy accent, often with the addition of darling e.g  “Oh PRRRRR darling!”
• The back-away- Often the response of business owners, terrified that they’ll somehow succumb to your services. Yes it’s likely that our mental cogs are turning, but we don’t carry contracts in our handbags. Often.
• Incomprehension- Possibly the most irritating of them all, this leads on to a lengthy explanation of what we do which all too often concludes with the response “Ohhh, like advertising?” No. Not like advertising.

In her article, Wyatt goes on to offer a number of reasons why this may be the case.

First- Max Clifford. Yes he’s made the reputations of many a celebrity but the man has almost single-handedly slayed that of his profession. Thanks to his shameless self-promotion and desire to be known as media-puppeteer, we are now all suspected of vanity and Machiavellian tendencies. 

Wyatt also sites reoccurring fraud allegations as damaging for the PR profession. The most recent of which occurred in the last fortnight, with the sentencing of former Activision senior PR manager Kathryn Kirton and ex-Frank PR associate director Jamie Kaye.

Now we can kick and scream, protest that these are isolated incidents and therefore not indicative of the wider situation, but we are facing a crisis. It is now every agency’s responsibility to improve the reputation of our industry. So Ruth, in answer to your concluding question, Here are a few things that can be done:

• Industry transparency - We all know the importance of transparency and will emphasise this to our clients, yet we also can be guilty of opaque behaviour (be it intentional or not). Take industry jargon. On a daily basis we use terms that resemble Martian to the uninitiated. We need to speak English rather than PR or our clients will leave feeling blinded by science.
• Figureheads - Ask anyone for a famous PR and the only name on anyone’s lips is the aforementioned, virulent Max Clifford. The PR industry is changing for the better (an end to unpaid internships etc.), and there are plenty of great PR professionals. We need to get good spokespeople out there and singing our praises.
• Measurement– Any PR will tell you that the AVE (Advertising Value Equivalency) system is outdated but clients, quite reasonably, need some indication of their ROI. With an industry-wide standard a far-off ideal, it is essential PRs and their clients are clear on how PR services will be measured. We need to listen to our clients, find out their criteria for success and advise on their expectations. It is only through agreeing on targets that we can experience the satisfaction of them being met.

By Polly Robinson

Pema takes BBOXX to Nepal- Part 2

Despite my fear that I’d somehow not be able to live without my phone – I’ve survived to tell the tale and it’s thanks to the BBOXX.

 When I ask people what they miss when they’re on holiday, most people reply with the usual home comforts; tea, their bed, food. For me, in Nepal, it was electricity and wifi.

Now don’t get me wrong- Nepal has come on leaps and bounds since my last visit and seems light-years ahead of the country I remember from my early childhood. But it still has its problems; one of them being stable, reliable electricity.

As soon as I landed there were some issues. My phone had died about six hours into the journey, which meant there was no way of contacting my mum, who was picking me up. I don’t know our home phone number in Nepal, and even if I did, I had no money whatsoever on me to call it. Not the ideal start to the holiday. Luckily for me, she’s even more nervous about me travelling than I am so had been waiting at the airport for several hours. First panic over.

As we drive to the house from the airport, I can see that one half of the road is blacked out – power cuts. My mum tells me that parts of the city black out at different times, sometimes it’s houses a few metres apart that do or don’t have electricity for a night.

The first morning- 6am- knock, knock, knock. It’s my mum, she’s eager to see the BBOXX, or should I say charge her phone. Bleary-eyed and rather reluctantly, I get up so we can set it up.

The first thing that became apparent was that there are lots of bits and bobs (this is the correct technical term). Now this is when alarms bells start going off, as my mother and I are the least techy people I know. However, it was actually surprisingly easy to set up and use. So if you’re as incapable as me when it comes to technology, then don’t fear- this is easy peasy…once you read the instructions.

So now we have our phones charged, the next issue is wifi. There is none at my grandparents' house so there’s not much I can do with my phone expect turn it on, play angry birds and hope someone texts me…all I can say is it was a long two weeks.

 

By Pema Seely

It's starting to feel a lot like Easter

I’m a big believer in Christmas. Not so much as a religious holiday, more as an essential tonic, necessary to lift our spirits at their lowest point in the year. This is how I explain the mounting hysteria before the festive season and why Easter always seems to be a more low-key affair. Days are getting longer, the weather’s getting warmer and there’s a vague hope that- one day soon- we may be able to step out with fewer than ten layers.

After suffering the coldest March in 50 years however, it seems we’re anticipating the Easter break more than usual this year- we need Easter. Brands and businesses have recognised this consumer willingness to embrace the event. In consequence, there are a number of new and impressive PR and marketing campaigns designed to maximise this opportunity for exposure. What follows is my assessment of a few…

Happy Egg Co.

In a toned-down take on the popular BBC 2 show, Lambing Live, the Happy Egg Co has created a live chick-hatching experience. Aired online using Google+ Hangouts and YouTube, the experience offers a real-time insight into poultry birth. Although irresistibly cute, the chicks are not that charismatic, making long-term or repeat consumer interaction with the campaign unlikely.

 Jewel Bar

As Cadbury’s most popular product between New Year and Easter, the nation’s affection for the Cream Egg is unquestionable. Incorporating this with rum and chocolate liquor, Jewel bar has concocted a cocktail to fatten its clientele and feed the media’s imagination. Packing an impressive 987-calorie punch, the Crème egg mojito affords endless opportunities for the kind of sickening food comparisons (double cheeseburger and fries plus a small coke) and Nigella-esque images loved by Metro and Mail Online.

Tesco

Tesco teamed up with Google Street View for its seasonal marketing campaign. Thousands of virtual eggs were hidden on UK streets on the brand’s Find the Egg website for visitors to hunt down. Prizes were a- plenty, with three eggs valid for exchange with a chocolate bunny, whilst eagle-eyed spotters of golden eggs were rewarded with a Samsung Galaxy Tab. The combination of easy-to-use, familiar technology and uncomplicated rules made for a successful campaign and a concept ripe for adoption and adaption by other brands.

By Polly Robinson

A message from the Mayor to the Chancellor..

As part of the Budget announcement today, the Government made a promise that public sector procurement from small firms would rise fivefold.  As a small business owner I’m not going to hold my breath before diving in to swim with the big fish.  We’re a 10 person PR agency that would like nothing better than to help promote the important programmes and projects that are kicked off each year, and have the track-record to compete against the bigger players.  But access to the tax-funded pounds remains a difficult struggle based on our size.  There are three areas that make the Government’s promise more hot air than warm revenue.  Firstly, access to information about tenders often comes at a price.  Online services that conveniently collate relevant opportunities require paid-for-subscriptions, an expense prohibitive to small businesses.  Secondly, the time it takes to complete a full scale tender could engage half a small company’s workforce to research, draft and illustrate, especially with the often short deadlines.  And finally, the big fish suppliers in the public sector are able to keep costs so low that they can almost ensure a monopoly.  As a reasonably priced agency that has bid for work through formal tendering, we’ve been told our fees can be double the price of other bids that come from larger suppliers.  Big fish able to use economies of scale on other clients to win high profile work.  It’s a big pond of opportunity perhaps?  But while the processes favour the larger sharks, it’s unlikely the little fish will get a bite.

By Lucy George

Seeking a connection

Many people now feel their phone is their lifeline. I am one of these people.  It’s the first thing I check in the morning and the last thing I look at before I go to sleep (sad I know).  Add to this the fact I work in PR, one of the most communicative industries out there, and you’ll begin to see that my phone is so much more than a phone; It’s my livelihood, my connection to colleagues, my clients and the world. I use my phone for nearly everything and it’s always with me. This means there is always a round-the-clock temptation to take mobile phone calls and consult emails, you could say I’m one of those ’24-hour culture’ people.

My close friends and family are used to my ‘condition’ and I’ve heard them mutter ‘it can’t be good for her, never switching off’, ‘does she ever relax’ and (my personal favourite) ‘she loves her phone more than us.’

I’m off to Nepal in a few days for an extended break to see my family. It’s been about five years since my last visit but the almost daily power cuts and unreliable wi-fi remains a vivid and horrific memory.

For the next couple of weeks, the simple task of charging my phone and connecting to the world will become a whole lot more complicated- the very thought of it brings me out in a cold sweat. This means that I’ve approached this holiday with a mix of excitement and trepidation and have spent many a night asking myself whether connectivity is a reasonable price to pay for a temperate climate.

Call it what you will- fate or coincidence, but shortly after booking my holiday late in 2012, we started working with BBOXX, a clean energy company which designs, manufactures and distributes solar-powered battery packs to off-grid communities. Eager to get to know my clients better (and for no personal gain whatsoever) I have decided to take a BBOXX to Nepal.

Once there, I plan to keep a journal to give you the user’s perspective on my BBOXX. My overriding concern right now is that I won’t be able to put the thing together- DIY or electrical goods have always been the bane of my life. Keep your fingers crossed, otherwise my journal will be very heavy on the text, light on the images and no fun for anyone.

By Pema Seely

London Fashion Week gets social

Last week, the eyes of the fashion world focused on London as the capital hosted Fashion Week. Fashion Week has always generated news, showcasing the garments that, no matter how ridiculous they look now, we’ll undoubtedly be sporting in six months time. The events themselves however have always presented something of an enigma to me; blurred impressions of undernourished women being ushered in and out of expensive venues. Just like the brands showcased, the events have always been exclusive.

This year however, London Fashion Week got social.

It wasn’t just the rubber skirts and dresses at Burberry Prorsum making the headlines. The all-British brand launched a number of new social media initiatives, confirming its long-held reputation as a trailblazer in the social space. 

From start to finish, the Burberry catwalk was one big assault on social, commencing with The“Burberry Beauty Booth". This promoted backstage interaction with models who were able to share catwalk-ready images in real-time by tweeting with the #BeautyBooth hashtag.

Once fans had seen the models pouting backstage, they then had the opportunity to watch the show itself, live-streamed within Burberry's Twitter feed for the first time. Additional access was provided through two Instagram accounts: @Burberry and the more detailed @Burberry_Live.

As if that wasn’t enough, hard-core Burberry obsessives could prolong the excitement yet further by tweeting with the hashtag #madefor the day after the show. This qualified them to receive an image of their own Burberry nameplate- a new personalisation option for Burberry products launched at LFW.

But this year, Burberry had a rival for the social crown. 

British retailer Topshop and Internet giant Google teamed up to create ‘The Future of the Fashion Show’, a series of interactive experiences designed to bring the show to life.

Fashion’s latest darling Cara Delevingne (bushy eyebrows, dated Harry Styles and falls out of houses at five in the morning. You know the one I mean), was one of three models commissioned to wear miniature HD video cameras to give fans the full 'model cam' experience. The specially adapted Topshop YouTube channel hosted the live-streamed coverage generated from these and from around the show.

After the show a 'Be The Buyer' app let users create mood boards out of individual pieces from the collection. International buyers and Topshop's in-house buying team also gave out video advice and industry tips to aspiring fashionistas.

Burberry and Topshop’s efforts to create and project content may seem slightly excessive when listed, but for once, I find myself congratulating the big brands.

The fashion industry, high-end fashion in particular, has a bad reputation for being bitchy and exclusive. Even if I had the time/ money/ press-pass to attend a LFW event, the prospect of sitting in the same room as Anna Wintour would be enough to drive me from the city.

Burberry and Topshop’s social media efforts are helping to dissolve this impression in a way that benefits the whole industry. They democratise fashion; remembering brand fans that are not rich or famous and recognising their desire and right for inclusion.

Models, like the athletes at the 2012 Olympics are using social media to project their personalities. A fearsome strut and stony-faced pout are not the most endearing qualities, but once you’ve seen them messing around backstage maybe even… grabbing a slice of pizza (gasp), they seem a lot more human consequently elevating them from clothes horses to positive brand ambassadors.

By Polly Robinson