The times, they are-a-changin’
Kaiser Chiefs did it in June this year.
Burberry did it in September.
And finally, Lord Sugar did it too.
We all know that social media is the buzz word of the hour. Or rather this era, if I may be bold enough to claim that. Oft conversed about with unbridled enthusiasm but rarely implemented in combination with innovative strategies. But all the above British brands mentioned – Kaiser Chiefs (yes, I consider a band a brand too), Burberry and Lord Sugar (brandividualism, anyone?) have created a glittering new avenue for harnessing the power of social media and hacked away at the traditional method of doing a ‘launch’. To explain further:
Launching their music album (ironically named ‘The Future is Medieval’ ) via social media, Kaiser Chiefs allowed users to upload their own cover and even make money for themselves by becoming sales people for the band and earning £1 per album they sell via social media channels.
At London Fashion Week 2012, Burberry launched their 2012 spring collection on Twitter. They “live tweeted” the show from backstage, tweeting pictures of outfits just before the models hit the runway.
Most recently, Lord Sugar has revolutionised the all familiar book launch by delivering the world’s first live book signing for his book ‘The Way I See It: Rants, Revelations and Rules for Life’ on Twitter too. He invited his Twitter followers (more than a million) to tune in to www.lordsugar.tv at 1pm and suggested that they could tweet their own rants to him, using the hash tag #thewayiseeit.
End result?
Kaiser Chiefs became the first band in history to launch an album via a digital platform and garnered enviable amounts of media attention as well as diversified their fan base.
#Burberry was the third most popular hash tag trending globally on their launch day and the fashion industry was set ablaze with their idea.
And Lord Sugar? The hash tag #thewayiseeit trended worldwide in the number one spot over 20 hours; saw around 350,000 tweets over the course of 24 hours; and over 2,500 rants directly to Lord Sugar. (Source – the Wallblog)
These brands have set a trend (pun intended), and they have definitely fully utilised the amazing firepower of social media platforms. Now to see who does what next!
Facing the challenges of social media: managing the crisis
Everyone talks about the great opportunities that social media offers to engage with customers in new ways. But, there’s another side to the story that’s less appealing.
Recent research shows the social media crises are on the rise and it seems businesses are unprepared. The good news is that 76% of the crises examined in the report could have been prevented had the brand been prepared to respond. According to the same research the top three reasons for the crises were lack of internal social media education, absence of professional staff to monitor and handle social media issues and lack of an emergency plan.
These results clearly demonstrate that despite the buzz around social media brands are not confident about using the medium when it comes to crisis situations. So how can businesses get the most out of social media and ensure they can effectively handle a potential crisis?
Taking social media seriously is maybe the most important advice to be given when it comes to managing social media crisis. Underestimating the power of the medium can have damaging consequences for the business. Monitoring social media regularly and developing an effective strategy that enables companies to deliver a consistent message across all communication channels is a necessary step in reducing the potential damage of such an event.
Having dedicated staff to handle social media issues is also a good way to ensure that your business will be better prepared to react effectively in an emergency situation. Another important step to consider is using the social media channel to choose the direction of your social media strategy in a crisis situation. Monitoring the reaction of your target audience for example could provide organisations with useful tips on how public opinion is changing and help them select the most appropriate course of action.
10 Top Tips for the Perfect PR Press Trip
It’s not just all about social media. Some of the original ‘tactics’ still have a worthy place in campaigns and the PR industry is famous for organising press trips. It sounds very glamorous, and it definitely can be, but it should always be rewarding and fun for those that go. Whether it’s for building media relations or securing a fantastic piece of coverage, press trips need to be remembered for all of the right reasons. At onechocolate we’re lucky enough to host press trips on a regular basis and, as such, thought we’d share some of our nuggets of wisdom with you:
1. Invite people who you think will not only enjoy the trip, but will also get on with other people – to help create a good atmosphere
2. Be very organised – eg have everyone’s contact details and make sure everyone has your number in case there’s a problem
3. Do remind guests if they need to bring something eg a valid passport, swimming trunks (people sometimes forget)
4. Keep things simple eg arrange a reasonable meet-up time and obvious meeting point
5. Don’t push press releases constantly at your guests, it’s annoying and will probably irritate them
6. Make sure your client is briefed properly
7. Set your client’s expectations for the trip
8. Be nice, courteous, calm and helpful – if you’re in control, it will rub off on others
9. Do enjoy a drink with journos and clients if the occasion arises – but remember you’re working
10. Have fun!
Mobile: the next big thing in Marketing and PR
The number of people accessing the internet via mobile devices may reach 1 billion by 2014, meaning mobile will overtake the PC as the most popular way to get on the Web. At the same time, more users will be consuming mobile apps with the mobile app market reaching $8.3 billion in 2014 compared to $3.8 billion forecast for this year.
This makes thinking about the marketing opportunities of mobile and mobile apps all the more pressing and exciting. Many brands are already incorporating mobile apps into their marketing and PR campaigns. Deodorant brand Lynx has launched a mobile app which encourages consumers to share their party experiences with selected friends by streamlining their social media activity in one place. The application will be promoted through the company Facebook page, YouTube channel and a dedicated website and will act as a media channel for future brand and marketing campaigns.
What’s significant about this example is how it makes the most of how the mobile platform allows marketers and PR professionals to interact with consumers regardless of time and location. The increase in mobile internet usage is a great opportunity for brands to engage consumers through social networks, while using dedicated apps and location-based websites to make their messages relevant to consumers. Additionally, mobile apps can be used to create innovative, interactive and engaging forms of content using specific Smartphone functionalities such as multi-touch navigation, cameras, GPS, etc.
Not surprisingly brands and media companies are focusing significant efforts on tapping into the mobile platform. In the era of mobility and social networking, mobile devices will have a profound impact on how marketers and PR professionals communicate with their target audiences.
Multitasking UK: What will advertisers do next?
The UK has been named a nation of ‘multitaskers’ thanks to social networks and increasingly sophisticated mobile phones, according to new research from Ofcom.
The research reveals that a fifth of all media is consumed at the same time as another form of communication with people spending almost half of their waking hours glued to a screen, on the phone to friends or listening to the radio.
Although TV is as popular as ever, almost one-fifth of the time spent watching TV is now accompanied by laptop or mobile activity. A finding supported by YouGov this week which found that that more than half of UK respondents (58%) are regularly consuming at least one other type of media while watching television.
With television being seen as one of the staples of the advertising industry it will be interesting to see how they react and engage with their target markets moving forward. Brands could sponsor online elements of shows that incorporate your social network, for example real-time quizzes and voting amongst friends. Alternatively, e-commerce professionals as it could offer the unique opportunity to directly link products shown on TV to internet retailers.
Whatever the next generation of advertising will look like we know that the picture below will no longer represent the typical television viewers today.
