Reinvigorating a Household Name
Remember the Old Spice commercials of the 70s? A legend in their own lifetime.
Today the brand has moved into the 21st century with a ground breaking social media campaign, albeit still with the good looking man as the star.
This time the ‘hero’ is Isaiah Mustafa and the campaign centres around the theme ‘The Man Your Man Could Smell Like’. Launched in February the advert attracted 19 million views to date across a wide variety of social media platforms – not just You tube. Next came ‘The Return of the Man Your Man Could Smell Like’ and then the other week, came the campaign we’re all talking about – The Old Spice Responses. Using social media, questions were collected via Twitter and during the course of the day they were answered in real time custom made videos on You tube. Quirky, fun, humorous the campaign was the perfect example of two way communication. It generated coverage both in traditional media and social media and provided a direct conversation that engaged with people on different levels and platforms.
Impactful, memorable and engaging, this is one campaign that will have many trying to copy it. In terms of PR it shows a campaign that enables a traditional brand to continue to build on its reputation and adapt with the times. It shows that it listens to its audience and isn’t afraid of responding. It shows that it can respond on different platforms to different stakeholders with the same message and voice. Above all it has created a character and an experience that millions of people wanted to be part on.
And as we all wait for the next instalment, who would have thought that Old Spice a brand we once loved to ridicule has now got us all wanting to be part of its conversation.
In: Branding, Media, Public Relations, Social Media · Tagged with: Advert, brands, Hero, Isaiah Mustafa, Old Spice, PR Campaign, Social Media, YouTube
‘Oh no – I’m stuck in Dubai’
STRANDED airplane passengers and disrupted businesses are making the best of trying circumstances caused by the Icelandic volcano.
The ban on flights, which has affected 23 countries in the European Union and has been continually extended, has left many plans in tatters, however not all Midlands entrepreneurs are suffering.
Elisabeth Lewis-Jones, Managing Director of Liquid PR, recently went to Dubai to meet a client but has been unable to return.
She says it is ‘business as usual’ for her company, albeit with some additional sunshine.
“I’m in very sunny Dubai – sun streaming through the window – so being stuck here isn’t all bad news,” she says.
“There is little we can do about the situation until flying resumes, so I’m making the most of it and have been exploring new business opportunities in the city.
“Already I’ve set up some key meetings with marketing managers, the PR association in the Middle East and with journalists.”
The Business Desk – 20th April 2010
In: Business, Economy, Travel · Tagged with: Ash, Cancelled Flights, Dubai, Iceland Volcano, Liquid Public Relations Ltd, Travel
Ashes to Ashes
Take one popular TV programme, add a political party leader and a panic fuelled strap line and you get an election poster that hits the headlines and generates Twitter comments for all the wrong reasons.
Labour’s latest poster campaign is the equivalent to an own goal. Using a popular, cult TV programme and turning David Cameron into DI Gene Hunt does everything the Labour party hoped it wouldn’t do. It makes Cameron cool for a start – and it also highlights his youth.
The strap line wanting to echo the disruption of the 80s, just reinforces the 70s winter of discontent – the harsh weather and endless strikes. So, the timing of this campaign isn’t appropriate either.
And then there must be copyright issues – the use of a public funded TV programme for political gain.
The campaign breaks all the basic PR rules – research, know your audience, know your subject matter and evaluate the consequences.
Political posters have always caught the headlines. They’re an excellent example of socio economic Britain – but some are more successful than others.
In: Economy, Media, Politics, Public Relations, Social Media
Putting the Public Back into Public Relations
You can’t have missed the buzz lately about Social Media Marketing. Today we communicate in ways we could only dream about. Within seconds we can update, influence and notify. And we can even do it in 140 characters.
Wikipedia defines Social Media as “An umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio”. Basically, a complicated way to describe the millions of conversations people are having online 24/7. Many of us have personal Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and even profiles on professional networking sites such as LinkedIn. Visiting social sites is now the fourth most popular online activity – ahead of personal email!
Rupert Murdoch, Global Media Entrepreneur recently said, “Technology is shifting the power away from the editors, the publishers, the establishment, the media elite. Now it’s the people who are in control.” The ‘public’ is being put back into public relations as social media helps us to create a direct interactive dialogue with our customers. Social media in 2010 is public relations, customer service, loyalty-building, collaboration, networking, thought-leadership and customer acquisition.
Jo Porritt, Managing Director of BrandGuardian, a leading social media consultancy based in the Channel Islands, says; “Consumers don’t simply want more from brands, they expect more. They want to know about the face and personality of the company they engage with, the human element, if you will. Social Media Marketing allows us to establish and nurture relationships built on trust, expertise, transparency and engagement.”
So how do we apply these global, duplex principles to business, and more specifically, to those based in Argentina?
Jo is quick to highlight that social sites can be the perfect platform to shout about your latest products and services, positive testimonials, building a buzz around your next corporate event, incorporating virtual maps to help prospects find you, hiring employees – the possibilities are really endless. Creating such useful content on your business, industry insights and your customer services, can keep customers engaged and will also encourage them to become “brand evangelists” – referring your company and it’s positive approach by word-of-mouth within their own armies of followers and friends across their personal profiles on social sites. Many industry experts have quoted the phenomenal power of social networking as “Word of Mouth on STEROIDS.”
When most businesses begin a social media campaign, they tend to focus on Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites. Whilst this is necessary, they usually forget to incorporate their own site and tie their social profiles together. Why push your consumers to connect with you on other sites, but not give them a reason to visit yours? Writing a Company Blog is another way to engage directly and specifically with your client base. Blogging may be time consuming, but this also encourages your clients to keep returning to your website, and even allows them to give you feedback in real time on your posts. We should not forget to mention the power of search within this arena of social media – Google and other major search networks love fresh, updated content. Indexing your social sites, company website and blog leverage your online visibility and help you to rank organically. Content is still very much king, and the combination of search and social media is a powerful one. Recent statistics show that companies which blog get 55% more website visitors, 97% more inbound links and 434% more indexed pages.
As with all marketing efforts, to achieve long-term success and ROI you must be prepared to first define your strategy, your long-term objectives and continually listen, engage, respond and measure. This may even prompt you to stop, take a look around you and address your own internal culture and methods of communication; ultimately giving way to a more rounded, holistic approach to the way your company communicates both internally and externally. Many businesses are even adopting social media internally and allowing employees to contribute their own ideas towards the company’s growth, improvement and innovation via the corporate blog. This creates and fosters an atmosphere of trust, support and a flattening of traditional hierarchy and closes the gap between senior management and support staff.
Remember though, Social Media Marketing isn’t the answer to everything. If your products & services and word-of-mouth are already poor, social media won’t fix them; but if you are continually listening in to these conversations, social media can provide your business with an almost real-time opportunity to address any perceived negative comments, and allow you to respond transparently. In today’s connected society, consumers are looking for that willingness and honesty. The lesson here is to never under-estimate the power of user-generated content, which will continue to grow at an unprecedented rate.
Yes, Social Media Marketing is a time investment. But something worth having takes time. To succeed you need to adopt a strategic, focused approach; get rich quick or minimal-effort/maximum-profit doesn’t really happen in Social Media Marketing. You will save yourself and your business a lot of time and potential misery if you approach this with your eyes wide open and a clear end goal in sight.
Businesses today need to stop thinking “campaigns” and start thinking “conversations”. Listen, pinpoint the buzz and participate in the conversation, because your customers, prospects and peers are discussing your brand, your industry and your competitors right now: with or without you.
For further information, please contact:
Elisabeth Lewis-Jones, MD of Liquid Public Relations and 2008 President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in the UK on lis@liquidpr.co.uk
Or Jo Porritt MD of BrandGuardian at jo@brand-guardian.co.uk
In: Social Media · Tagged with: Social Media, Twitter
Liquid Public Relations launches associate offices in the Channel Islands
Lis has linked up with One Strategic, a new full service pan-Channel Island consultancy formed by six of the Channel Islands’ leading advertising, branding, marketing and PR professionals.
The link enables Bromsgrove based Liquid PR to compliment its London office with offices in St Peter Port, Guernsey and St Helier, Jersey.
The seven strong team at Liquid PR is now supported with a team of four in Jersey and a team of two in Guernsey. Together they offer consumer, retail, business to business, public affairs, crisis management, social media, travel and tourism as well as financial marketing expertise.
Liquid’s managing director, Elisabeth Lewis-Jones, said;
“With the growth in offshore activity and a focus on ethical marketing of professional services and financial institutions, I wanted to find a full service consultancy that would offer such expertise but also share Liquid’s culture and ethics. We have already started to work on a number of projects together both in the UK, the Channel Islands and the Middle East.
“The Jersey and Guernsey team comprise some of the most qualified practitioners in the Channel Islands with professional accreditations from all three leading communications bodies – the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Institute of Practitioners of Advertising.
“Their combined experience and expertise sets One Strategic apart from other regional agencies and together with the expanding team at Liquid PR we will have a long, mutually-beneficial relationship.”
- Liquid PR has become the first UK consultancy to establish associate offices in the Channel Islands through a partnership with One Strategic
In: Business, Public Relations
Crystal Ball Gazing
The PR industry is changing rapidly. Who could have predicted even three years ago the rise and impact of Twitter? So, we’ve put our collective heads together and come up with a couple of predictions for 2010…….relating to the PR industry, obviously if we could tell you who would win the World Cup, we would!
- The PR industry will continue to embrace social media but we feel that PR practitioners must realise that there’s more to it than a ‘three trick pony’. Yes, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn will continue to be important but social media is far more than just a couple of social networking sites.
- PR will continue to move away from the traditional ‘push’ approach to information distribution to having a ‘conversation’ with all stakeholders.
- We believe, quite passionately, that PR practitioners will continue to dominate areas traditionally belonging to marketing professionals, such as research, design, above and below the line communication and social media as we don’t just talk to one audience but to all stakeholders.
- With an uncertain economic climate clients will, quite rightly, continue to demand value for money. They know that even in a down turn they still need to invest and manage their reputations but they’ll want consultancies that can prove their worth.
- PR people will continue to become more business savvy as their work continues to underpin the corporate business plan
In: Economy, Media, Public Relations, Social Media · Tagged with: PR, Social Media, Twitter
Uniformity
It is incredible the difference a uniform can make.
Working with two new academies in West Sussex we took the secondary school students from wearing polo shirts and sweat shirts to a practical, smart uniform with blazers, shirts and ties.
The difference has been remarkable – not just in how they all look but in their attitude. They are now ready for work. They are walking taller, showing greater respect for each other and within days of the new academies opening, staff were seeing a positive change in behaviour and work.
The Littlehampton Gazette reported that the town now looked smarter and shop keepers, being interviewed, noted that the behaviour of students was much improved.
A uniform, where it is strictly enforced can provide a standard, a brand and for schools it can be one of the most important public relations tools of all.
In: Branding, Education · Tagged with: School Uniform, Woodard Academies
Churnalism
Newspaper circulations are on the decline. In the last few weeks The Birmingham Post has gone from a daily morning newspaper to a weekly. The Evening Standard is now a free sheet and local and regional publications are closing down daily.
Last year, Nick Davies Book ‘Flat Earth News’ discussed this decline – looking not just at the role of the internet but also the impact of the PR industry. He stated that ‘Churnalism’ had replaced real journalism.
In the book Davies complains of ‘pseudo events manufactured by the PR industry’ and global news stories ‘generated by a new machinery of international propaganda.’
Strong words.
Yes, there has been an increase in PR people over the last ten years and yes, companies and organisations are now realising the importance of PR at the board room level, how they need to manage their reputations and present themselves to their stakeholders.
The increase in public relations professionals I’m sure can be tracked against the increase in the number of news mediums available to us too. But pick up a newspaper and remove the sport, the crime and the politics and you have very little left. As PR people we are competing for that space so we have to make sure that our story is relevant, well researched and appropriate in order to gain the journalist’s interest.
I am often asked by editors to ‘provide me with 350 words and a picture quick’ and they rarely alter a word. Rightly or wrongly this does come down to the fact that perhaps news teams need to be better resourced – or does it now show the trust journalists have in us and the fact that PRs can provide newsworthy, well researched copy rather than just a sales pitch?
In: Journalism, Media, Public Relations · Tagged with: Flat Earth News, Media, Newspaper, PR, Press Release
