Is Motorsport really sport?

by Simon Brown

I don’t think my dad would call himself a true sports fan (he supports Newcastle United after all!) but he does like to keep ‘an eye’ on sport in general. This passing support often leads to him raising the question with me, ‘is motorsport really sport? I mean, how difficult can it be to drive a car round a track for an hour?’

His argument is based solely around his belief that sport means physical exertion, like playing football, running, swimming etc. However, judging by the fact that today’s drivers are built more like Olympic athletes than London cabbies, I think that argument stalls on the grid.

The fact that a sport like F1 requires such high levels of physical effort has led to some questioning the wisdom of Michael Schumacher’s return to the sport this season. At the age of 41 is he still fit enough to compete? I’m pretty sure that he wouldn’t be doing this if didn’t think he was, after all Sir Stanley Matthews played competitive football well into his 50’s.

Today’s drivers aren’t just toned athletes; they are constantly having to master new technologies to deliver better results. I know exactly how they feel!

Business, like motorsport, constantly strives to create an improved return on investment. With motorsport the return is measured in milliseconds, in business it’s pound signs. Understanding and harnessing new technology is the key, whether sat behind the wheel or a desk.

Take the social media revolution as an example. Marketers constantly have to adapt to new technology in order to help clients reach their goals and social media is to business what Brawn GP’s rear diffuser was to Jenson Button last season. It provides a platform from which to propel a brand to a new level by allowing them to interact and engage with customers, providing a measureable return.

But this must be done correctly. Put your foot down too quickly and you’ll make a big impact, but when all the smoke clears what will you have achieved? How have you interacted with your customers? And perhaps more importantly, your competition will be disappearing into the distance. Social media is all about conversations. If you’re not listening it’s a speech and people will easily tune out. Only through listening to customers, joining in and creating conversations will you achieve anything.

Businesses averse to social media will use Vodafone as a reason not to embrace it. The telecoms giant grabbed the social media headlines for the wrong reasons last week after an employee posted a rude message via its official twitter page, however, the way it reacted presented a great opportunity. Its twitter feed was created to help customer with any queries and enable them to get the most out of their phones. Following the outburst Vodafone contacted all of its 8000+ followers individually to apologise and explain the situation, presenting a excellent chance to provide even more assistance, and reassurance, to its customers.

Firmly in the ‘pro’ camp is Pepsi who recently showed its belief in this new medium by ditching its Super Bowl TV ad spend. Instead it invested $20m is a social media campaign promoting its Pepsi Refresh Project.

Like it or not technology is changing our world and the fortunes of those who choose to embrace it and those who resist it will widen on a daily basis. The individual technologies available will continue to change but the need to have an experienced pair of hands at the wheel, selecting the best route and applying the appropriate amount of acceleration at the right time is more crucial than ever. Maybe Mercedes selection of Schumacher isn’t such a gamble, talking of which he’s currently 7/2 for the driver’s championship.

Keeping your head above water in the river of information

by Nathan Lane

I was up early on Thursday morning to catch the 6am train to Birmingham. I always find train journeys provide invaluable time to take a step back and really think about what you are doing at home or work.

I made the train in plenty of time and used the 20 minutes in the station to check my twitter, facebook and RSS feeds through google reader. Jump on the train and free wifi gave me the chance to trawl the BBC, thebusinessdesk.com, Guardian Online and Birmingham Post websites.

On arrival I grabbed a Starbucks and took 10 minutes to flick through the Metro. My return journey gave me the chance to catch up on emails and listen to the radio through my phone.

Back home I watched Scooby Doo, put my two year old lad to bed and got stuck into my favourite shows on Sky Plus.

I could be more of a news addict than most but I am not unusual in the way I consume media through the day. We face seemingly infinite choice in the media we consume and we can access it anywhere and at anytime.

This is driving an ever increasing selection of media through RSS feeds, niche news and lifestyle websites (often delivered through a mobile device) and Sky Plus. You can choose your media with or without ads and stream it to your TV, PC, iPhone, Playstation and more besides.

The challenge is to understand where the audiences relevant to your business live in this river of information. When you know where they are the spade work begins to understand what will make them pause, laugh, smile, share the story with their friends, family or the guy in the lift.

It is the power of the story, a strong narrative that will engage an audience. The narrative can be told in words but often, in today’s visual economy, a picture or video will communicate more effectively. When a person is engaged they can become a powerful advocate with the ability to share the story with hundreds or thousands of people.

There is much debate to be had over whether the consumer turns to news or social media to inform their choices. The latest reports shows trust swinging back to traditional media brands. The truth is that the world is only a couple of clicks away and in the next half hour I can buy a holiday from my mobile phone having searched for the best deal, checked for negative press reports, checked it on trip advisor, had a look at the resort on flickr and told all my mates that I am going.

The essential truths of marketing remain:

· Understand your audience

· Create messages that speak to them as people

· Surround your audience with the message

· Keep talking to them once you’ve got them

I wonder when they are making Scooby Doo 3?

Google takes a stand, but at what cost?

by Paul Rogers

Wow. Now this is what I call a big story.

Someone very important at Google is very angry with the Chinese government.

Over the past 48hrs in all but outright accusation, Google has declared that the Chinese authorities masterminded a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” on its corporate infrastructure. Apparently the attack, which “resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google”, was replicated on at least twenty other major companies in Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical industries.

As a result, Google is reviewing its position in China and refusing to continue to self-censor its Chinese search content, directly flouting previous agreements with the Government. Here’s an exerpt from Google’s own blogpost on the subject:

“These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered, combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web, have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.”

I doubt this is an empty threat – Google’s revenues from China are marginal anyway and the company’s hardly strapped for cash, so why not take them on?

Props to Google then for taking a stand. This seems like a victory for free speech and in the short term, I’m sure it is. But there’s a bigger implication to consider. If Google does shut down and withdraw from China, then they’ll leave quite a hole behind. And the promise of access to an expanding market of more than 338m web browsers (more than the entire US population) is such a whopping great carrot, you can’t help but wonder whether Google’s successor might find they are “continually distracted” away from the whole issue of government censorship. Put another way, as an expat friend of mine succinctly notes amid a typically lively discussion on his PekingDuck blog, “Whoever it is, they’ll have to sell out. Business as usual.”

Earlier today Reuters looked under the political hood of a few other major internet players in China and made a few calls on the chances of them rallying behind Google on this issue. It sure is lonely at the top. Let’s hope Google toughs it out.

What’s in a name?

by Louise Wylie

Since last year has been dubbed the year of the social media explosion and the world became fascinated and addicted to Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook et al, I can’t help wondering what advancements 2010 has in store for us.

Many are predicting a full scale, ‘post-media revolution’ where the serious value-added business potential of social media is unearthed and utilised by organisations of all size and type albeit at the decline of traditional mediums including print press and TV. Have to say, I welcome that with open arms since one of the main challenges as I see it, is to turn the engagement power harnessed within social media principles, into a genuine revenue generator for businesses. 

And it can and has been done for a far cheaper investment than is required to run even a medium weight advertising campaign…but we’ll save that debate for another day!

Ok, so some early adopters have already tried and succeeded in their use of social media (let’s be honest, some have also failed spectacularly) when it comes to the utilisation of online communities to benefit their brand, but there is still a very common and widespread perception of social media being mainly for fun and actually quite pointless, especially in the eyes of some more traditional business leaders.

Case in point for the commercial viability of social media: Facebook’s Christmas number one success with the Rage Against X Factor campaign. More than a million joined an online group and the administrators managed to influence behaviour by consumer’s not just joining a group but spurred into action by buying the infamous tune! I wonder how much money was made and lost by this ‘bit of fun’.

So, how will those remaining sceptical businessmen and women be converted? The very name ‘social media’ has in fact been damaging to it’s potential to be regarded as an impacting tactic to be included in business marketing strategies. ‘Social’ automatically conjures up images of frivolity and anything but serious work!

A re-naming could well be on the cards to help redress the balance and imbue the inherent value of engaging with consumers in a way that allows brands to listen to their customers and increase their bottom line at the same time. But what will the new name be? Suggestions include: ‘Identity Marketing’, ‘Identity Strategy’ or even ‘Influence Marketing’. The latter certainly adds credibility especially for demonstrating the ability of social media to deliver real behavioural change.

It will be interesting to see if the new name, whatever it ends up being, influences marketing directors to sit up and take notice, and more importantly, action.

Whatever the motivation, I believe we will see an abundance of businesses seeking support for the creation of their new social media policy and advice on how to implement and integrate with their online and offline marketing strategies. Canny marketing directors are bound to see the sense in embracing the craze now that we’re moving beyond the ‘trial and error’ phase and start apportioning a slice of their budget into, well, whatever it ends up being called!

There is gold in them there hills!

by Nathan Lane

I spent Friday speaking at an event for Foreign Direct Investment bodies organised by Red Hot Locations . The audience came from across the UK, Europe and North America.

The range of speakers covered topics from branding to design and the current seminar darling – social media. All the speakers covered similar themes, albeit coming from different areas of the marketing spectrum.

Three key themes from the day:

1. Authenticity
2. Engagement
3. Narrative

These themes should come as no surprise. I recently re-read the marketing classic “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins. It was written in 1923 and is still relevant today. In 1923 it was important to walk a mile in your customer’s shoes and address their needs. Listen to your customers and analyse advertising activity to target more effectively and generate better results.

Authenticity was important in 1923 and it still is today. Promoting a product or service on its essential truth will ensure that the customer experience is reinforced at the point of purchase. The impact of product or service not living up to its marketing promise is even greater today. In 1923 you may have told ten people about how unhappy you are but in 2009 you can tell 1,000s, and they can tell 1,000s, and they can tell 1,000s.

Brand news can go global in a day and this provides great opportunities for the marketing professional. The threat comes if you have a crap product or service.

Engagement used to come at a number of touch points from the newspaper ad to the purchase in store. The list has got longer but the problem isn’t more complicated. It remains the case today that the best brands provide a consistent voice across all areas where it interacts with its customers.

Social media presents greater opportunities to listen and interact with customers in real time. This is a huge asset to any business where you can grow relationships with customers before they even come in store. Post purchase the relationship is maintained and without having the costs associated with a print based CRM plan.

The best brands have a narrative, a story to tell, that will stick in the minds of customers. These brands become iconic with a raft of legends around them. Virgin, Ford, Apple, Ben and Jerry’s, Glasses Direct, Innocent – we can all recall a story about the brand that allows us to engage with them on a deeper level.

Buyology by Martin Lindstrom makes the point that in a world where we are subjected to so many messages, most brands become white noise. It is the brands with a story that stick.

I was asked on Friday “how will social media change my business”? There is no answer to that – it depends on what you want it to do. You can find stats that will tell you social media is the biggest thing since the industrial revolution or a total waste of money. More than the technology the biggest impact on the effectiveness of social media is the talent of the people running the campaigns, the resources applied and the goals that are set.

My view is that social media is another tool in marketers box and a bloody useful one that, if used in the right way, will drive out cost while getting you closer to your customers. We are now able to listen, engage and respond to our customers in a way that was impossible (other than face to face) five years ago.

From a PR perspective it is the stories that generate the media interest (print, broadcast, digital, social media) and get talked about. It is talkability that sits at the heart of any successful PR campaign – and it did in 1923.

Tough day at work dear?

by Simon Brown

Somewhere between getting home last night, putting Master Brown to bed and grabbing a beer from the fridge, I had the usual post work catch-up with Mrs Brown, which included the obligatory ‘how was your day dear?’ question.

Normally I’d lay it on thick about what a tough day it had been hitting deadlines, generating results for clients and making my share of the coffee. However, despite the fact that my day started on board the 7.40am British Rail train (or East Coast to give it it’s new name) to London, I’m not sure even I could make yesterday sound like a tough gig.

I spent the majority of the day with the world no.1 snooker player, Ronnie O’Sullivan, as he officially opened The Money Shop’s new Romford store. I’m sure my client won’t mind me saying this but it wasn’t the most arduous day I’ve ever had at work. I’ve been extremely lucky to work with many high profile sports stars over the last few years but I’m struggling to think of one who is as easy going as Ronnie.

The Money Shop has sponsored Ronnie for the last two seasons and has worked hard to develop the relationship and Ronnie has repaid them by being a fantastic ambassador for the brand.

He proudly displays The Money Shop’s bright yellow logo on his playing waistcoat which generates an enormous amount of TV exposure for the brand. However, what is arguably more significant is The Money Shop’s ability to use this relationship to directly engage with its core audiences. Through a carefully crafted amplification programme additional value has been generated for The Money Shop, and not just via media exposure.

By simply providing tickets for customers and staff to see him play, activities such as yesterday’s meet and greet at a new store and one-to-one tuition sessions at his local snooker club, the sponsorship has become much more than simply a ‘name on a shirt’ and engaged on a meaningful level with internal and external audiences.

Spending time meeting customers, posing for photos and signing autographs (Ronnie, not me!) may not sound like a tough day at work but you can’t argue with the results. Happy customers, happy staff and a very happy client.

So how was your day dear?

The tale of the tape – prepare for all eventualities

by Terry Gilligan

This week was a big week. The team delivered a cracking event for client Alibaba.com and with it being our first event for them, we were obviously keen to impress.
 
The central idea was to deliver a thriving, vibrant marketplace to help launch Global Entrepreneurship Week. The venue was the open piazza outside the British Library in London.
 
A collection of ten fully branded authentic market stalls manned by some of the brightest entrepreneurs the UK has to offer ranging from a ‘posh Geordie’ martial artist [with the biggest hands I’ve ever seen] who specialises in bespoke punch bags to a serial entrepreneur from Manchester who’s latest brainwave is a green Christmas appeal involving desktop Christmas trees.
 
So to the morning of the event. All week I had been nervous about the weather. London had been hit by squalls, storms and a plague of locusts by all accounts on the Saturday. But I was prepared. I had my new, waterproof jacket and was armed to the teeth with orange [client’s corporate colour] golf brollies. But deep down, I didn’t want rain. This was an outside event afterall and I needed people to venture outside from the comfort of their cosy indoor conference to see what was going on.
 
I awoke at 5.30am keen to get stuck in and peered out of my 10th floor hotel window to see pouring rain. You know the kind I mean. Heavy rain x 2. The kind that soaks you to the bone. I tried to force down a cooked breakfast while watching the rain cascade down the restaurant window facing out onto the Euston River, I mean, Road.
 
By 7.45am the rain had ceased…just. This meant we could go, go, go. We were already 45 minutes behind schedule. Up went the market stalls in record time. On went the vinyl branded roofs. Then came the wind….Strong wind. The kind of wind that makes it difficult for things to stay down. Like things that you might be arranging to put out on a market stall display! And pull up banners.
 
But again I was prepared. We had come armed to the teeth with tape. Sellotape. Insulation tape. Gaffer tape. Parcel tape. Even velcro. If it could be taped or stuck down we had it covered. Everyone on the market wanted tape. Tape was now in very short supply. Such short supply in fact, that any enterprising tape salesman passing by at that point would have made a killing.
 
At 12.30 pm we were ready to start trading. The stalls were ready and everything was securely taped or weighted down. I have never seen fresh oranges used before as ballast but they work! Our entrepreneurs were ready. The sun even came out at this point and things finally started to swing in my favour. We even managed to coax Dragon Peter Jones onto our market for photos, interviews and a quick mooch round the market. Trade minister Lord Davies went one better and even bought a punchbag emblazoned with the New York skyline.
 
The entrepreneurs were happy. They had brought Global Entrepreneurship Week to life with their ideas and enthusiasm. The client was pleased as we had exceeded the original brief of creating an outstanding and memorable external event. The team was relieved that everything had gone so well and despite nature’s best efforts we were determined not to be beaten. The 45 brollies I bought as a contingency didn’t actually make an appearance.

In this job, I’ll never cease to be amazed about how the simplest of things can really save the day….I guess you could say we had this event covered. In sticky tape.

         

               

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Tea For Me

by Beth Stallman

According to the usual internship guidelines, I was fully prepared for my first day as the new work experience girl at Ptarmigan Bell Pottinger. I could file papers virtually at the speed of light, I was a whiz-kid on the photocopier and I could make a mean cup of tea, or coffee, according to a range of preferences. ‘Rich roast with a splash of milk and half a teaspoon of sugar you say? Coming right up!’

So you can imagine my surprise when I walked into the (very cool loft-space) office that first morning and after being shown to my desk – which, for the record, was not in the gloomiest corner of the office (the MD has that spot!), as tends to be the favoured abode to seat a lowly intern –I was asked to write a press release for the agency. A press release? I thought I’d have to make at least a month’s worth of tea before I was allowed to write one of those!

But in the short time I have been at Ptarmigan I have already produced a photocall notice, helped evaluate a press campaign, gotten to grips with industry related computer software such as Mediadisk and Lexisnexis, explored social networking sites to map audiences for a current campaign – there is definitely no Facebook ban in this office as online social media is now an important part of PR! – and of course, written a press release.

For any wannabe interns out there I have compiled a short list of things I have learnt so far for getting the most out of a PR work experience placement:

1. Keep your ears open – Listen to what people in the office are saying, whether they are discussing a current campaign, new campaign strategies or are on the phone to journalists or clients. Listen to the way they handle different people and situations and the way they adapt accordingly. You will be sure to pick something up or will at least familiarise yourself with some PR-jargon.

2. Have a go – This is not an industry for those who need their hand holding through tasks. If you are asked to do a piece of work, have a go and then ask for feedback afterwards.

3. Ask questions – You are in the company of PR practitioners; take an active interest in what is going on.

4. Keep on top of media issues – “Did you hear about that…” is the start of oh-so-many conversations. You don’t want to be the only one who looks vacant when a current topic is brought up. If you know what’s going on you can form an opinion and actually play a part in the conversation rather than having to make do with the odd nod here and there. 

But if you’ll excuse me now, the chat time is over…I’ve got to get back to some real work!

Coughupforideas.com

by Terry Gilligan

So confused.com has offered to cough up for the creative ideas from a couple of the unsuccessful  agencies that pitched for its business recently.  If you work agency side no doubt you will have experienced it. You pitch a great idea to a client, don’t win the business and low and behold see your idea brought to life a few months later just as you had originally visualized!

It’s hugely frustrating when it happens but its part and parcel of the pitching process. That is until Confused.com offered to pay for ideas from three agencies after appointing one to handle its business. The problem here is a familiar one. The client doesn’t know what it wants. If a rounded campaign wasn’t suggested by the successful agency then why were they appointed? Why did their strategy and tactics need boosting by ideas from other agencies? It’s the PR equivalent of a pick n’ mix.
 
In my opinion, this cannot be good for the PR industry as a whole. The PRCA has welcomed the move though.

Any agency worth its salt should remain creative or proactive throughout the duration of the relationship. This demonstrates how important that client is to the agency and that the agency is keen to retain the business. If you believe in your own ideas you will also believe that nobody could bring them to life as you could. It all boils down to pride in the job. I would feel massively let down if a cracking idea was sold and then executed badly by a rival agency or inhouse team.

It’s impossible to put a value on creativity.  Especially in the context of a client inferring that ‘we love X idea but we’re not so keen on you.’ A pitch winning idea can come from anywhere in an agency, from the MD or an eager account exec.  But how do you put a price tag on that idea that could’ve taken shape in either a matter of seconds or over the course of a few weeks? Do you overcharge for a one off idea because you know that there’s no chance of building a relationship. Or do you undercharge in the hope that they will come back and buy more?

As an industry we mostly subscribe to hourly rates to cost things. Which works fine in most instances but not particularly well for the very essence of what we do and in reality what clients are prepared to pay the most for – coming up with creative ideas. The thing they appointed you for in the first place. What they liked about you. What set you apart from the rival agencies. Probably.

So how could this all pan out? With Christmas just around the corner, we agencies are keen to secure as much client business as possible. So keen that if we’ve come up with an idea that you particularly like and you are prepared to pay handsomely for it, we’ll give you another one. Absolutely free.

And if clients don’t like the ideas generated by one particular agency or it doesn’t deliver, there’s always the option to go and buy an alternative idea from someone else on the pitch list!

Our EuroMillions coverage reaches new heights!

When the Ptarmigan team enlisted the help of Europe’s tallest living man, Neil Fingleton, to reveal that tonight’s EuroMillions Mega Jackpot is an estimated £85 million, we had no idea he’d send our coverage levels through the roof!

Neil’s visit to Leeds made front page news and if you get lucky and scoop what could be UK’s biggest ever lottery jackpot, the next person to star on the front cover could be you. Don’t forget your ticket!