The QR code is technology that has not yet been utilised to its full potential in the UK. So far the most creative use of the QR code I have witnessed are people using it on their business cards… trying to prove that they stand out of the crowd.
Homeplus, known to us in the UK as Tesco came up with an idea which seemed to have worked for them, the question is can we over here in the UK make the same idea work for us? As PR professionals and as organisations? Guess we will have to take the risk and find out just like Tesco….ooh, I mean Homeplus.
I must admit the inspiration for this post is a topic that really gets me going. Reebok has always been a brand that puzzles me, it seemed like they didn’t have an identity, they didn’t know what publics to target their product at. They just needed some direction.
While Nike conquered the athletic apparel market, endorsing Ronaldo, Kobe Bryant, Ronaldinho, Roger Federer…the list is endless!
Adidas filled the gap in the market by stealing the urban market, endorsing acts such as Missy Elliot, Snoop Dogg, N-Dubz, Ciara, and David Beckham.This tactic saw their sales go through the roof.
Reebok have hit back and quite strong I might add. The new ‘Reethym of lite’ campaign has the flash of a Nike ad campaign and the buzz of an Adidas campaign. With Reebok using artist such as Swizz Beats, Common, Bluey Robinson. They have taken the market by storm… bringing back classics from the late 80′s and early 90′s seem to have struck gold with the current urban fashion market!!
The end of the sports season is here. The premiership has come to an end, the basketball season will be ending shortly. This is the time of the year when athletes endorse products or services, this is the time of the year when sports fans utilise social media and make their own ( sometimes amazing) videos out of boredom.
With organisations drooling at the marketing potential of social media marketing, they have taken to producing adverts just for online purposes and sharing in on their Facebook fan pages or via their website, using twitter to direct traffic there. This post will show some of those videos.
This is one of Cristiano Ronaldo racing a Bugatti Veyron
The Nike ‘black mamba’ commercial with Kobe Bryant, Bruce Willis, Kanye West and Danny Trejo and directed by Robert Rodriguez is definitely one to watch. a good five-minute investment.
Personally I think athletes make terrible actors, but in the case of Blake Griffin, I think he did a decent job.
Southwest airlines in the USA came up with this brilliant concept of trick shots without the use of professional athletes. The shots are not possible, but it’s fun.
And finally, Nike and Kobe Bryant had the whole internet talking about this, its old, but it worth a look
Last year I wrote an essay arguing that Facebook was not a fad. was I wrong? due to the fact that it is the most popular of all the social networking sites. I argued that it will continue to grow and attain more users.
That essay was written last year, this year, I feel no different about that essay. Facebook is the most used social networking site although it continues to change the format of the website, which I must say annoys the hell out of me, I still keep going back. And I know i’m not the only one who does that.
Just when we thought Facebook could not get any better, Zurkerberg surprised us with Facebook connect, which allows other websites share content and services with Facebook , it allows us to log into other websites using Facebook and activities on those sites will be shared back on the Facebook wall.
At the moment Facebook seems to be a part of everyday life, it’s on our smart phones, we have access to information, set trends, follow trends, get news(local, national and international) all on Facebook.
I don’t see this going anywhere anytime soon. Facebook is here to stay!
Evaluation has proven to be a tough cookie to swallow for PR practitioners, now a lot of PR is practiced online, Online evaluation should not be that hard… should it?
Tracking progress online has it’s benefits, not just to know the amount of hits ones website gets, but to find out more details such as, where and when the site gets its most hits, what key words to use as tags to get hits on your website. The best thing about online measurement is that there are lots of programs and software that can be used for free, which gives the user the freedom to experiment and discover strengths and limitations without worrying about getting charged.
Google Alerts: Gives email updates of the latest relevant results based on your individual choice of topic. Alerts can also be used to monitor stories as well as keep tabs on developments.
Google Trends: Shows how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume across various regions of the world, and in various languages
Google Analytics: This is a tool for tracking ones website or blog. Google analytics generates detailed stats about your blog or website like where in the world your blog has been looked at or what time your blog or site generates the most traffic.
there are other free web tools on the net which are equally as good. Technorati, IceRocket, and BlogPulse are some of the free online tools which could be used to evaluate your blog or website. Have fun evaluating.
Who would have thought that The city of Newcastle would host its own fashion week. No need to be jealous of the London, Milan, New York or Paris events, the Toon’s got one now!
The City of Newcastle Upon-Tyne will host it’s own Fashion starting May 14-21Events will be hosted at some of the city’s most prestigious venues which include the Baltic, the Discovery museum, where the regions fashion heritage and history will be delved into, and some of the local department stores and boutiques, John Lewis and Fenwick just to name a few.
The online campaigns have already kicked off with the Facebook and Twitter pages already up, running and getting hits by the minute.
Designers from around the region will get the chance to show off their work and designs to a wider audience as the world touches down in the toon from May 14-21.
According to the official website, it states that “Fashion Week will bring into focus all that Newcastle has to offer on an independent fashion stage”. I believe the statement is true, I live in the city and see all sorts of fashion senses, the likes that can compete with the mega cities like London. The city definitely deserves it’s own week.
I’m too excited for this event, cant wait to catch a glimpse of some of the country’s best designers past, present and future. the opportunity will be great for the region, and for me!!
In 2009 Parnav Mistry brought a part of the physical world to the digital world, and then reversed it by taking the digital world and painted the physical world with the digital information. In 2011 we call this augmented reality(AR).
One can say that augmented reality blurs the line between reality and fantasy by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell.
Augmented reality adds graphics, sounds, haptic feedback and smell to the natural world as it exists. Both video games and cell phones are driving the development of augmented reality.
In the case of Pr and marketing, many believe that augmented reality (AR) is technology that has set the foundation for geo-data, social networking and location-based advertising in a picture perfect format for customers.
Combining reality with computer generated graphics you can offer brand recognition and interaction on a new level while boosting ones reputation, whether it is via a webcam or a Smartphone or walking around a city’s streets
Personally I cannot wait for the app on blackberry. Iphone, android and symbian phone users can have the app downloaded straight to your phones, an application called Layar has brought this technology to your hand held device. You can play games in real time using the AR software(Layar) and travel through time, past, present and get a glimpse of what the near future might look like.
Watch the videos below to get more of an understanding of AR
and Check out Lynxs’ augmented reality trial at London Victoria.
After the master class by Stephen Waddington (@wadds) on the importance of social media in PR, at the University of Sunderland last week, I decided to list down some things businesses need to do to have a successful Facebook profile/fan page. Looking at some of the business pages on Facebook, there are vital mistakes they’ve made or things they have just plainly missed out, for example
1. The business needs to create a fan page or a profile page that speaks directly to the target market.
2. The page has to be active, it must be updated frequently for the fans to know all up to date news about the business, including pictures and videos
3. News of discounts, special offers, or some sort of loyalty discount to its members on the Facebook page.
4. Controversial content always helps, or at least useful and fun content allowing users/fans to be able to interact(2 way communication)
5. It’s also wise to advertise using Facebook, it has the potential to direct more traffic to the business fan page.
6. EVALUATION, EVALUATION, EVALUATION!!! Facebook insights allows the business to measure and analyse trends.
Talisker Whisky is an example of a business that implements all of the above via Facebook. why not take a look and post comments below.
This post was sort of tough, because I had a different topic to choose from. Until I stumbled on a show on the history channel.
The show, titled ‘America: the story of us’, tells the story of how the country was formed by european migrants. To keep audiences interested, the documentary uses the theme of ’adventure’ to relate to its audience
My point exactly is that the documentary is possibly one of the best PR campaigns I have seen in recent years, especially when president Obama gives the introductory speech(need I say more?). I have to admit it almost got me, especially the story about the ‘gold rush’ made me want to explore the vast country, and see for my self. I snapped back to reality when I thought about the negative aspects which were, no country in the world is as perfect as the documentaries version of the USA.
As a campaign, this would also be one of the most expensive of its type, as it was one of the biggest documentaries that the history channel has put together, production cost would have
The documentary covers stories such as, the American revolution, the Boston tea party, slavery, the economic boom, the great depression and lots more. I would recommend watching it, if you’re interested in history of any sort. But a word of warning, it’s 12 hours long.
Lets take it back 10 years ago, when we still wrote letters to our favourite celebrities, when we still had pen pals on the other side of the world. I know I did. I also sent fan letters to my favourite celebrity every month, Hulk Hogan never replied.
I think its safe to say that those traditions are sort of fading away. Since the start of FaceBook, social media sites have sprung up left, right and centre. Twitter has been one of the most successful of those.
With the ability to add friends you know and others you don’t, from other parts of the world, the art of the pen pal is no more. But if you add the wrong person, chances are that you’ll get FaceBook stalked!
Twitter brought a culture of celebrities of all sorts publishing their thoughts in 140 characters and fans got fascinated with the thought of following, tweeting, commenting,
Who needs fan mail when you can just log on to twitter and @mention your famous celebrity. Chances are they will not reply.
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Who would have thought that The city of Newcastle would host its own fashion week. No need to be jealous of the London, Milan, New York or Paris events, the Toon’s got one now!
