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Do we really need Twitter?

2011-12-13T02:46:00.000-08:00

In the week when Twitter announces yet another overhaul - users or those on the fringes of becoming users will be asking themselves ‘do I really need to be part of the Twitter world?’

Aimed at aligning its formatting for mobile use and making itself more user-friendly (and more commercial, some may argue), Twitter is testing the patience of the millions of users who are still uncertain if this is the medium for them or not.

For anyone who might be doubting it, we did a little in-house research exercise for one of our clients today. Having helped them set up a Twitter account to start engaging with the world, our next objective was to set them a ‘following’ strategy and seek out the best tweeters in their sector.

The results were amazing. The scope to directly tap into your target audience is huge – it’s just a case of going about it smartly and having a planned strategy which you can maintain.

Out of interest, as of 10.00 GMT today, here are the volumes of followers currently engaging with some of the core national and local media. Interesting reading:

@FinancialTimes 505,732 followers

@SkyNewsBreak 412,994 followers

@BBC News 447,561 followers
@guardian 249,079 followers
@TelegraphNews 73,309 followers

@BBCRadio4 45,223 followers

@MailOnline 38,799 followers
@TheTimesLive 22,802 followers
@ITVAnglia 9,106 followers
@bbclincolnshire 4,125 followers

@peterboroughet 3,624 followers
@BBCCambs 2,013 followers
@TelegraphClub (for small business owners) 1,269 followers

@businessweekly (East of England business news) 1,375 followers
@Mercury1695 Stamford Mercury 1,183 followers
@PboroNet Community Website. 575 followers

Twitter currently has just short of seven million followers itself. If you’re one of those still sitting on the fence, we’d advise you to unruffle those feathers and get ready to take off and join the Twitter community. It might be a bumpy journey along the way but once you’ve landed, you’ll wonder why you left it so long!

Dawn Strange
Accounts director

Leveson Inquiry shines light into gutter journalism….

2011-12-01T00:45:00.000-08:00

What a sad state of affairs when some tabloid journalists can’t distinguish between stories that are in the public interest and those which are not….

What is the public significance in a story about the lovelife of comedy star Steve Coogan or Charlotte Church? Or what Max Moseley is getting up to in the privacy of his own home? Or cropping a photo of Sienna Miller lying on the floor at a charity ball and claiming she was drunk, when in fact she had been playing with a disabled child?

As someone who worked as a regional newspaper journalist and editor for over 20 years I am both saddened and angered by such methodology.

It belongs in the gutter. There is no place for that in responsible British journalism. It certainly ignores the codes of conduct and ethics taught to trainee journalists about balance and fairness.

Press freedom in the UK is partly what makes this country so great. There is no censorship – but equally, it is what makes us in the media look so tawdry when irresponsible journalists go beyond what is both decent and sometimes legal to justify a steamy, sordid or shocking front page headline. Phone hacking is the worst personification of this practice.

Some editorial managers will weigh up the cost benefit of increased casual sales against the likely litigation costs – if it stacks, they publish and are happy to face the consequences.

And yet, some tabloid journalists have unearthed hugely important stories which are very much ‘in the public interest’ and which often bring our government and those in authority to account for their actions. We must protect that precious press freedom for all it is worth. It is the cornerstone of our democratic society.

I have no problem with journalists hiding in bushes or going undercover to unearth stories that are plainly ‘in the public interest’ – but let’s be absolutely clear on the meaning of that phrase.

The Leveson Inquiry is rightly shining the light into the darker corners of the British media and maybe this will provide the opportunity for all those in national newspaper journalism to review the meaning of the words ‘in the public interest’ – and if they need help, perhaps a more forceful Press Complaints Commission or similar body can assist. The alternative - a censored or heavily regulated British media - would be an erosion of our democratic freedom and a disaster for us all.

Peter Corder

Managing director

Thomas Cook scores well in reputation survey

2011-11-08T00:57:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Thomas Cook which scored a PR victory in a recent One Poll survey.

It’s a pleasing result for the travel giant which has its head office here in our home city of Peterborough.

Thomas Cook was viewed as the company with the ‘best overall reputation’ by the 2,000 people surveyed. It didn’t top the poll for best value for money or customer service, but it did score highest for reliability.

From a PR perspective, reputation and reliability are at the heart of all business strategies, particularly those in such a consumer-facing arena.

The poll stats were published in the same week as the company launched a brand new uniform

As the oldest travel agent in the world, re-invention and fresh ideas are also paramount.

Hats off to Thomas Cook – not only because we like to see ‘local’ business doing well (that goes without saying!) but because this giant of a company hasn’t allowed size to compromise its PR focus.

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

Keeping in touch with your customers…

2011-10-25T03:32:00.001-07:00

Newsletters are a simple way to keep in touch with your customers – to let them know you exist, that you care about them and that you want to share information with them.

But they should not be platforms for your own internal gossip. Customers are not interested in the fact that someone has had a baby; passed an exam or got promotion. What they want is news they can use.

And invariably that means useful information that re-inforces your professional image; news that shows you are abreast of the latest industry trends; snippets promoting your next seminar or networking opportunity; and some interesting and useful tips. It’s all about ‘added value’.

Nowadays, most people use e-newsletters – because they are cheaper to produce than printed versions; you can monitor whether they are opened and can ensure that they arrive at the desk of the person to whom they are addressed thanks to the accuracy of email. You can even monitor whether links to your website from specific articles have been activated – which is invaluable marketing information.

The other great advantage that an e-newsletter offers us as a medium is permission to “sell” – something that other online communications like blogs and online articles should never be used for. This is why you’ll often see them used effectively by retailers to promote new products, discounts and offers.

If you are not dealing with your customers/clients on a regular basis due to the nature of your work – contact can so easily be lost; and that could lose you business.

Newsletters are only one way to ‘keep in touch’ with customers – we have run training courses for some of our clients outlining all the others as all businesses strive to strengthen their grip on their existing customer database.

Peter Corder

Managing director

What does your font say about your business?

2011-10-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

The BBC tweaked its website fonts last week - replacing Verdana font with Arial on PCs and Neue Helvetica on Macs.

Did anyone notice? Did anyone care?

Read the relating link and judge for yourself - click here.
Whatever your personal opinion, after all it is relatively subjective, there is one rule to abide by – choose a font and stick to it.

Every designer in the land will tell you that brand strength comes from brand exposure – the more times the brand is viewed the more chance it has of being retained in customers’ minds, being recognised and remembered, and eventually being accepted.

So don’t spend hours getting hung up over font styles and sizes – make use of a qualified designer to do the leg work for you and create a design and related wording (with fonts) that best suits your company and your service or product.

You certainly don’t need to spend the £80,000 that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office did (according to the Mail on Sunday) changing a typeface to one that was almost identical – but, in my opinion, it will definitely be worthwhile getting some professional advice.
Your brand and your logo will be judged by people; it’s one of their first impressions of your business, so perhaps checking out your fonts and what they say about you, isn’t such a bad thing to do after all.

Dawn Strange

Steve Jobs on the recipe for success

2011-10-13T01:34:00.000-07:00

In the world of business we are always searching for the recipe to success. One guy who found that recipe was Steve Jobs, the Apple visionary who died recently of pancreatic cancer.

But his success wasn’t built simply on creative technological genius but his belief that customers should be at the heart of everything we do.

In the many Steve Jobs interviews I have seen and read he openly admits that the Apple technology was fundamentally no different to that of the many competitors in the market.

But what differentiated the Apple brand was the way it delivered that technology with ground-breaking design-led products that became iconic. A totally customer-centric business.

I wonder how often we actually listen to our customers or even ask them how we can improve our service to them? It’s an issue we have been exploring with a number of clients recently.

Blogs are normally places for sharing useful information, or commenting on a current issue but this one is simply to share with you one of the most inspirational addresses you will ever hear.

It is Steve Jobs’ celebrated address to the Stanford students at their graduation in 2005. It is particularly poignant and thought provoking and well worth spending 15 minutes listening to it.

View the video here.

Peter Corder
Managing director

Consumer power like never before……

2011-10-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

It’s getting increasingly more difficult to manage the image of a brand in these days of instant digital and global news.

A poor experience of a product or service can now be all over the social networks like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube in no time and before you know where you are the brand is under siege and the PR/marketing teams are fighting to redress the balance.

There was a time when as consumers we were told what the brand was and what it delivered; now we are telling each other what brands are and what they deliver. And if it is bad, the whole world will know in minutes!

I had a very negative experience in a new hotel/restaurant locally recently and have found myself passing it on to all and sundry both verbally, by text, email, Facebook, Twitter…..et al. Thousands will have heard of my experience eventually. Will they visit that establishment? Probably not.

What damage has been done to that brand – without them necessarily even knowing it – unless of course they are tuned into the new social networks and the modern way of communicating messages to a consumer-driven world.

The alternative of course, is to get the product right first time, every time – and encourage happy customers to tell the world about it. Simple really………

To listen to just how powerful consumers can ultimately be have a look at this social media video.

Peter Corder
Managing director

Domino’s teaches us all a lesson about honest social media

2011-08-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

Domino’s pizza has taken social media to another level with one of the most ambitious and transparent campaigns ever.

It is a far cry from two years ago when Domino’s staff loaded video of staff abusing company food that went viral.

This sparked the company’s Turnaround campaign which has since seen it leading the way in customer feedback and engagement.
Its latest initiative is the boldest so far and hats off to the pizza giant which recognised the only way to kill off negativity in its brand was to address it head on, put its hands up and own up to the problem, and do something meaningful about it.

The Times Square exercise carries messages from customers – good, bad and indifferent. Providing they’re not defamatory or downright rude, they are posted up for all to see.
We can’t all afford daily messaging on a Time Square moving billboard but we can present feedback, good and bad, when it’s relevant and will help customers build up trust in the brand.

This is the essence of social media and although Domino’s had a rocky period with it, it has certainly made amends since.

Dawn Strange
Account Director

Power to the free speech of blogging as Mr Sencier takes on Cumberland trust

2011-07-01T01:11:00.000-07:00

Blogging is a personal diary and one of the best illustrations ever of free speech. While there may be plenty of quirky and many crank blogs we choose to avoid, there are still plenty of blogs providing interesting and insightful content and opinions.

Daniel Sencier decided to use his blog to raise awareness of his poor experience at local hospital, Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary, and before long found himself hitting the national headlines after the hospital trust threatened legal action over his Blog

The father-of-five from Penrith who was waiting for surgery for prostrate cancer was so worried about delays and damaging administrative procedures at his local hospital that he arranged to have surgery in another part of the country, Addenbrookes, here in Cambridgeshire.

Following his successful operation Mr Sencier campaigned for improvements at the Cumberland hospital to prevent other patients having the same experience. He listed the failings as part of a Blog

But instead of receiving an apology from the hospital, the 59-year-old man was sent a letter from the trust’s lawyers warning it would consider legal action over the blog if it was factually incorrect.

Mr Sencier has received messages of support from across the UK including his own MP who accuses the trust of acting ‘heavy handed’; and a local legal firm pledging free legal advice. Even staff at the trust are backing him.

The blogger who says his issue is with the system, not the medics at the hospital, will be heading a public protest outside the hospital on Monday (July 4).

Although many of us obviously can’t be there in person, we will be supporting him spiritually – in the name of free speech and also in this case, pure commonsense!

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

SEO is vital – don’t undersell your website

2011-05-25T03:01:00.000-07:00

We took a call earlier this week from an ad agency trying to sell us ad space on behalf of one of our clients – Easyjet. While we have a number of national clients – including two or three market leaders in their sector – we can’t yet count Easyjet as one of them!

The reason the agency came to us, we were top of Google when they keyed in our company name.

While we couldn’t help the agency, we did feel pretty pleased with ourselves for beating our rivals to the top of the rankings.

It was a good lesson for us. And on a serious note, proves you shouldn’t sell your company short. Having a decent website isn’t enough – it needs to be performing for you consistently. That means keyword rich copy, added content, and optimisation.

Sorry if I’m stating the obvious but examples like this just go to prove it’s not a lot of marketing speak and theory – it actually does work when you put it into practise.

Lesson over!

Dawn Strange

Account director

Social media comes under ASA's scrutiny spotlight

2011-05-24T01:45:00.000-07:00

Online advertising now comes under the scrutiny of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

In case you weren’t aware, the extended remit began in March and follows 4,500 complaints that say companies act differently on their own sites than they do in other marketing spaces.  

Social media is one of the key aspects ASA will be keeping a keen eye on including Twitter, Facebook and blogging.  

Whereas previously it was paid-for digital activity that companies needed to be aware of, now it’s the entire digital gamut which opens up a whole new world of online communication.

Social networking is synonymous with free speech and companies being creative about how they reach their target audience. The last thing we want to see is creativity being driven out by fear of prosecution.   Perhaps it will serve to weed out the worst rogues who blatantly put out misleading and false marketing messages but to be honest, how effective can it be?

ASA has taken on a 10% bigger workforce but it’s still impossible to comprehend how it will monitor every single piece of social media put out by companies and we have to assume much will rely upon referrals and complaints.  

It’s early days but I think it’s a case of watch this space….

Dawn Strange 

Account director

McIlroy loses golf title but wins PR battle

2011-04-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

IF EVER you wanted to see the right and wrong way to handle the media while under pressure – look no further than the very different approaches adopted in the recent US Masters Golf tournament in America.

First we have the sour-faced Tiger Woods who has just finished ten under par with a half chance of winning the title. He must now wait to see if his score can be beaten.

His sullen responses to a friendly television reporter trying to make conversation with him simply re-inforced the widely held view that he is a troubled man. He treated the reporter with contempt and ridicule.

Compare with 21-year-old Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy, who having been leading the tournament until the last round, crumpled under the pressure and ended up way off the lead – having been a hotly tipped favourite to wear the winner’s green jacket. He was disappointed yet philosophical, magnanimous and offered heartfelt congratulations to the eventual winner Charl Schwartzel. He said he was a great golfer and an even better person.

McIlroy said: “I have just played one bad round of golf and missed out on winning a competition. That’s all. There are much worse things going on in the world just now.”

McIlroy became a hero in defeat, cheered off the course for the way he conducted himself. Tiger was nowhere to be seen!

Who won the PR battle? You decide.

Peter Corder

Managing director

Quakebook harnesses the good will of social media

2011-03-31T07:14:00.000-07:00

For those who still think Twitter is for teenagers and geeks, Quakebook is a lesson in its potential global value.
A Brit in Japan – known online as ‘our man in Abiko’ - came up with the idea of creating ‘Quakebook’ – a collection of contributions from anyone who had been involved in any way in the earthquake in Japan, subsequent tsunami and the aftermath. It started with a tweet which was fleshed out with a blog post.
His aim was to self publish a biographical book of the event – with all proceeds going to Japan Red Cross – in days.
His Quakebook hashtag was quickly adopted, his tweet retweeted and links to his blog tweeted round the globe. He was inundated with responses. And not just from those submitting accounts, but with offers of help.
Sub editors, designers, bloggers and publishers were keen to get involved in the process.
‘Our man’ kept everyone updated via the Twitter hashtag. Yoko Ono endorsed the book and other celebrities with a high Twitter profile were lobbied to promote it. A Facebook page and a YouTube channel were also created enabling Quakebook to be promoted exclusively through social media.
A week after the idea was launched, a digital version of the book was set to be produced with Amazon approached to sell it. The hope of ‘Our man’ was to also publish a hard copy version – for those who still like to see and feel what they’re reading!
Twitter is no longer just about sharing 140 characters of meaningless personal ‘news’. It’s about engaging with a global audience - a rallying cry that can be heard worldwide. And a call to action which it is difficult to ignore.

Suzanne Ostler
Account executive

Google won't buy link buying strategies

2011-03-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

If you’re one of the sensible companies that realises the value of digital marketing in helping grow your business, then you will possibly have embarked on some Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) work for your website. If you have, here’s a word of warning.

The New York Times recently uncovered a huge operation involving American retail giant JCPenney. It found that someone paid to have thousands of links placed on hundreds of sites scattered around the web, all of which led directly to JCPenney.com.

JCPenney denied responsibility for the activity. However, Google immediately dropped its site way down the search engine listings, and the company subsequently sacked its SEO team. In 2006, BMW Germany were penalised for a similar exercise.   But it’s not just the high profile super companies - or their SEO agencies - which are using these tactics. In the past six months we have identified two examples of this practice among our own unsuspecting clients.

Commissioning SEO work is like handing over the keys of your company car to a complete stranger for a weekend – you have absolutely no idea what they’re going to get up to with it and what state your pride and joy will return in.   While your car is a commodity and can be replaced, your website is the public face of your business and if it’s an e-commerce site, it’s the lifeblood of your business.

Paying for links is deemed illegal in Google’s eyes. Basically it’s a cheat’s way of moving up the rankings. Google doesn’t like it and won’t allow it – your site is likely to be relegated or even removed completely – which actually equates to a company shut down if you’re an online business!  

So before you put all of your faith into an SEO agency (don’t panic, there are plenty of good ones around) we urge you to please ask the questions – ‘will a linking strategy be used in my SEO campaign?’ and ‘If so, how will this strategy be achieved?’.  

In the case of our clients, we managed to highlight the activity before it was too late and both were saved from the Google axe but you might not be so lucky.   Ask the questions and check out the credentials of your SEO suppliers – digital marketing is a minefield, and it’s very easy to be taken in by unscrupulous ‘experts’.

Don’t let your company become the next victim, otherwise you could find yourself on Google’s blacklist.

Roberto Rodriguez
Online Marketing Consultant

The restaurant review that went global…

2011-03-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

When a customer wrote a review of a restaurant in Kuwait and posted it on Facebook, little could he have imagined the furore it would create.

The restaurant in question took issue with the customer’s views and decided to instigate legal proceedings against him – claiming his review was in some way malicious.

The irony is – that even though the case does not appear in the Kuwaiti courts until later this month – the restaurant chain’s actions have been pilloried on a range of social networks.

Other customers/consumers have lambasted the restaurant for taking this action against one of it’s clients for expressing a personal opinion about the food and service delivered.

More damage has been done to the restaurant’s image by their reaction to the initial review than if they had just let it lie or tried to engage the customer and ‘make it right’ with him. If they had done that successfully, they could have turned a negative into a positive. And just look how that would have changed the perception of the restaurant on the social networks.

Peter Corder
Managing Director

Teacher rant on Facebook goes down a storm

2011-02-16T02:09:00.000-08:00

Thank you to the two unsuspecting teachers at Northborough Primary School in Peterborough whose Facebook rantings provided a textbook example of how not to use this social media tool.

Facebook is the undeniable global leader when it comes to Internet communication - it has more than 500 million active users with people spending over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook.

But the growth of this powerful phenomenon isn’t a green light to the world and his daughter to set up a page and start chatting away – particularly not if you value your professional career. At the time of writing, 132 comments on the teachers’ Facebook misdemeanour had been posted. Ironically, the online news item also made page 11 lead in the evening paper’s off-line print version!

Teachers, like many other professions, have to tread a very careful line when it comes to communication with the wider public. Other than parents’ evenings and school events, wider conversations through other channels are kept to a minimum.

And that has to apply to the staffroom too – by all means, have a moan about a pupil at morning break in the privacy of the staffroom – but that’s where it has to stay. And that applies to many workplaces and many working scenarios.

Trying to blame a lack of social media training (as the NUT has in this case) is a poor excuse. We are all responsible adults, we work, we interact with people, we understand how our communication is received and generally we know how public relations work and we put this into practice every single working day.

Facebook and other social media tools provide vital lines of communication for us all - both professionally and socially - it’s a case of learning the right tool for the job and not abusing the privileges each one provides us with – otherwise, it could prove costly.

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

Google and Twitter launch speak-to-tweet service for Egyptian protesters

2011-02-02T03:26:00.000-08:00

The amazing events in Egypt have just shown us all the power of modern communication.

Twitter, Facebook and other social networks were alive – lobbying the Egyptian people to take to the streets to protest at the Mubarak regime. So what was the first thing that President Mubarak did first? He cut off access to the internet and therefore disabled social networks.

But such is the power of the new cyber world that a group of engineers from Google, Twitter and SayNow (which Google acquired last week) worked hard to build a speak-to-tweet service for the Egyptian protesters to circumnavigate the clampdown.

The service enables users to send tweets using a voice connection rather than the internet. Anyone can tweet by leaving a voicemail on one of three international phone numbers: +16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855. Tweets sent using the service will automatically include the hashtag #egypt. People can also listen to the messages by dialing the above numbers, and by clicking on the links posted to @speak2tweet.

How the world has changed...

Peter Corder
Managing Director

Choose the right ‘expert’ support for your website

2011-01-31T09:04:00.000-08:00

Any good at window dressing? So, what makes you think you’ll be any good at designing your own website?   Regarded as the prime selling tool for most businesses, the website just has to do the business for your business.  

So while we would always suggest you seek out professional help please, please ensure you do your homework first and strike up a relationship with a reputable and trusted supplier.

Website stings - from tales of woe with ineffective search engine optimisation (SEO), bad design experiences, rip off pay per click campaigns and downright poor back-up service reports are unfortunately becoming more and more commonplace. Website cloning and SEO services touted at $3 an hr are among this week’s web horror stories.

And this morning we had our own experience – our Online Marketing Consultant discovered one of our newest clients was being ripped off by a website hosting company which was charging him five times over the real cost for a year’s domain hosting.   Earlier in the month, a review of another new clients’ Google Pay Per Click campaign, uncovered areas of unnecessary spend, which added up to approximately £68,000 in wasted ad costs over the course of the year.  

All of these experiences not only give the industry a bad name, they also cost innocent businesses an awful lot of money and an end product that probably doesn’t deliver. It is disappointing and frustrating to say the least when we come across poor examples – the worrying fact is, these are prevalent.

Anyone considering a new website, a new digital service for their website, anything basically linked to their website – please seek as much ‘expert’ opinion as possible and don’t go for the first or cheapest option – it could cost you a fortune in the long-run.

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

Charity Green Paper is welcome but can’t we sort out Gift Aid too?

2010-12-30T05:09:00.000-08:00

Charity begins at home, as the saying goes, but that could be set to change with charity beginning at the cash machine, at the checkout, even when you fill in your tax return! The Government wants to make giving to charity a ‘social norm’ and has launched a Green Paper specifically detailing how this could happen.

It is asking banks to look at replicating a system used in Colombia that allows customers to make a donation each time they withdraw cash and is suggesting a ‘round up the pound’ scheme, allowing people to donate change when paying by debit or credit card.

As individuals we will be asked to be more giving, but what about businesses?   We support a local charity (NSPCC Peterborough Business Support Group) in giving our time and skills a day every month; we also gave a weekend and our limited energy levels to a 32-mile walk/climb to boost funds this year.   It isn’t necessarily hard work (well, perhaps the 30th mile onwards was!?); it’s actually very rewarding as an organisation to take action collectively to help a local good cause. How the Government wants businesses to join this charity push is not quite as clear just yet.

But while it’s thinking how companies could be putting an even bigger tick in their corporate social responsibility box perhaps it could review some of the existing charity/business initiatives, particularly those relating directly to tax incentives and tax relief which many businesses may not be clear on or even aware of.

And at the same time, revelations that £750million is lost in unclaimed Gift Aid every year because the UK public aren’t aware of how tax relief works on personal charity donations is unacceptable.

Totally, totally agree with the principles of the ‘giving’ Green Paper but while we’re all digging deeper into our pockets perhaps a PR campaign to raise awareness of just how simple Gift Aid is wouldn’t go amiss.

Do you know any good PR companies Mr Cameron?

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

Google: The fourth emergency service?

2010-12-24T02:25:00.000-08:00

When you’re facing an emergency or crisis - there’s only one place to find a solution these days – Google!

Some poor chap in the south west ended up delivering his wife’s baby using instructions he found on Google when it became obvious the emergency services wouldn’t arrive in time to get her to hospital.

Apart from it being a lovely, happy, festive story it simply re-iterates the point - as if we needed to – that the internet is nearly always the first place people look for things nowadays.

That is why it is critical that whatever business or service you are supplying, your website represents your offering in the most appropriate way and is easily found with targeted search engine optimisation.

The expectant Cornish father clearly put in his Google search terms and found exactly what he needed. It’s pointless having a website that nobody can find because it is not optimised for the terms people generally use to look for your service.

Most of us never look passed the first page of results on the internet anyway – so the message is simple – optimise to get the business!!!

Peter Corder
Managing Director

Driving up the cost of news

2010-11-16T01:29:00.000-08:00

The media seems to be in a muddle about paid content on their websites. Should they or shouldn’t they?
News International introduced subscriptions for access to The Times, Sunday Times and News of the World in a bid to generate more cash. They claim to have around 100,000 subscribers, each paying £1 a time.
It seems ironic that the company that started cover price wars in the national media to drive down the cost of national newspapers is now trying to drive the price of online news content back up.
Surely, all it means is that providers of free online news content will simply be able to generate higher traffic numbers and consequently more advertising opportunities. It’s a fascinating subject.
Whatever the ultimate outcome – a competitive environment for the consumption of news is good for everyone and produces a healthy and vibrant market.

PS: Congratulations to The Independent’s editorial team for the launch of their new bite-sized newspaper – it’s designed to lure back lapsed Independent readers. It’s definitely worth a look.

Peter Corder

Managing director

Queen Elizabeth II joins Facebook social networking site

2010-11-10T03:01:00.000-08:00

If ever we needed to demonstrate the importance of social networking – it was handed to us on a royal plate this week – with the Queen launching a Facebook page.

OK, so it is unlikely she will be making herself available for Facebook chats, or posting her family holiday snaps - but this latest move to embrace social networking by the Monarchy just shows how mainstream this form of communication has become.

Facebook and other social networks opens up the opportunity for two-way interactive communication and we all know how important it is to listen to what people are saying about us or about the businesses we work in. They also give us the chance to demonstrate our expert knowledge in our business sectors – which is important to existing and potential customers.

With the continued development of mobile communication via iPhones and Blackberries we can be ‘online’ every minute of every day – so keeping in touch with what is going on in the world has never been easier.

…and now we can even see what Her Majesty is up to on a daily basis – if we are so inclined!

Peter Corder
Managing Director

Social media continues to become mainstream language

2010-10-29T03:10:00.000-07:00

If ever you needed evidence of a brand’s success, here you go – Simples has made it into the English Dictionary! Yes, the signature phrase of the Meerkat campaign ‘Simples’ has officially been endorsed as part of our English language.

Love or hate the campaign, you can’t knock the unparalleled success of comparethemarket.com’s winning marketing strategy.   In terms of measurement and ROI, securing a spot on the pages of our hallowed English Dictionary takes some beating and the company’s creative team deserve every plaudit for not only dreaming up this campaign in the first place, but giving it the legs to run and run. Who knows where Aleksandr Orlov will end up next!

While we’re on the subject of words, other gems to work their way into our English language this week include fauxmance – a fake romance between actors. Social media also continues to become mainstream language with tweetheart – meaning a person admired by others on Twitter – making it into the dictionary.

It’s so easy to become tired and cynical of it all and berate these ever-changing nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc, etc, etc……and yearn for the days of ‘proper’ English. But what determines ‘proper’? I can’t think of anything worse than trying to speak/write Chaucer-style or even Shakespeare for that matter.   Surely it’s a case of being topical, current and relevant – that’s at the essence of all language and communication in general.

And while I might not be using fauxmance or tweetheart many times in my copy I will be embracing the changes that these words represent. If you want your business to be relevant and heard I’d suggest you do the same – it’s Simples really!

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

The Times paywall doesn’t appear to be paying off!

2010-10-28T04:28:00.000-07:00

Latest figures from research group Nielsen suggest the audience figures have declined by a huge 88% with only one in five readers prepared to cough up a £1 to subscribe to the news.

And on Tuesday the paywall was suddenly taken down for the day. Was this nothing more than a technical blip by News International or would the more cynical among us read more into this – could it possibly have been a publicity stunt? Or even an experiment to see if visitor numbers would rise with the barricade down?

Whatever the reason I have to say nothing has happened to change my opinion that the paywall route isn’t the right route.

Purely from a PR perspective, it’s not customer friendly, it doesn’t encourage engagement with the title, and that’s so contrary to how the Internet and online information is designed to work and be used.

Open, accessible, immediate and comment-driven is the ethos of the worldwide web and consistently updated news is at the hub of this. With our PR hats on, we use the Internet daily for research and reaction – the Times has scored an own goal with our industry in particular as we can no longer use it for reference or incorporate links to it in our own material.

Missed out on one today for instance on the Nick Clegg closet smoking story (sorry, I can’t put the link in as you won’t be able to open it, unless you’re prepared to pay!). Needed to use this item to support a client angle on celebrity non-smokers but couldn’t access it. Went elsewhere instead so no valuable back links to the Times piece. That’s just one example – countless online PR people will be looking to carry similar links every hour, ever day. What a missed opportunity.

Who knows where Mr Murdoch’s head is – will he decide enough is enough and revert to free once more or will he continue on his stubborn way with the paywall? We wait with interest for the next set of Nielsen figures.

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

Are you protecting your privacy online?

2010-09-06T01:30:00.000-07:00

Social networking is transforming our every day lives – and so often in a positive way – but it comes with a major health warning.

Whatever personal information we either knowingly or unwittingly post online can be collected to build up a frighteningly accurate picture of who we are, what we do, where we live, how old we are, where and when we go on holiday, who our friends are and what we are saying to them.

Managing your online profile and image is now becoming so crucial that there are now specialist consultants who trawl the Internet managing your image for you, deleting, adding, amending information where appropriate.

Just to see what we mean – visit www.webmii.com and tap in your name – the system will collect mentions/information about you (or people with similar names) from all over the Internet and give you a 0-10 rating on your own or your business profile. To give you some perspective, President Obama is in the low nines.

It is also a reminder that our chat history; Facebook comments; blogs etc, are always there. We may think they are private – but there are lots of clever people who can retrieve that information.

Your image or that of your business is now more public than you can imagine – so it is critically important that it is managed by people who know the implications of what is written or spoken.

Peter Corder
Managing Director

Fundraising can be a great way to build team morale

2010-08-25T04:58:00.000-07:00

Apologies, this is a moment of indulgence...Eight of us from Media Matters completed a 50K walk in North Yorkshire at the weekend. In itself not too tall a challenge but we slept under canvas as part of it and as we come from the edge of the Fens where hills are a rarity, walking up hill and down dale was quite a feat.

The reason for the walk was to raise funds for the NSPCC Peterborough Business Support Group. This means all of our hard-earned cash will go straight into supporting local children and local projects.

Having survived the weekend I’m here to tell the tale – the weekend was a great success in so many ways. We raised more than £2,500 with money still coming in, and from a team perspective, we’ve become an even closer bunch.

While we all work together, the thought of sharing a weekend away, doing something completely out of our comfort zone with the chances of our failings and weaknesses being exposed to all, was probably the part everyone was most concerned about.

But we didn’t need to worry – we all pitched in and when there was an issue or a helping hand required, we all did our bit.

So, for all businesses out there that think team building is a lot of nonsense, why not think again? Better still, if you’ve got corporate social responsibilities to consider, why not use this type of exercise to ‘tick the box’.

We’ve done our bit, and here’s the video to prove it:

Now we throw down the gauntlet to others who might be looking to fundraise and build team morale – why not do something similar? And if you’re local, why not get behind the Peterborough NSPCC group? We’ve got all the contacts, just get in touch: info@mediamatters-pr.co.uk

Thanks for allowing me to wax lyrical – the good news is that while I’m typing this, I’m giving my legs a rest!!

Happy hiking...

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

The art of communication - both online and offline

2010-08-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

According to the communications watchdog Ofcom – we spend almost half of our waking lives watching television, texting, surfing the web and generally using various forms of digital communications technology. Just half?

I recently returned from a trip to Mozambique where we simply had no network coverage. For nearly three weeks we couldn’t access the Internet, or text anyone, or take mobile phone calls. At first, the sense of loss was palpable.

But as the days passed, we found ourselves resorting to a good old fashioned discussion over a few drinks in the evening. What a refreshingly welcome diversion from the ‘always available’ world we now live in.

Now I am back though, I find myself spending even more time on Facebook, keeping in touch with those from different corners of the world with whom we enjoyed cosy discussions over dinner and a glass of wine. It’s now part of our everyday lives – like it or not.

We can’t live with it but we can’t live without it. Communication is now instant. We no longer accept ‘waiting’ as an option when we want an answer to something. We want to know now.

That is why it is so incredibly important that all businesses provide clear and persuasive messages to their prospective audiences and make that information available at the click of a mouse – because if we don’t, our customers will simply go elsewhere for an answer.

Listen to how multi-tasking communication is affecting us all on this BBC News report.

Peterborough needs positive PR to attract new companies to the city

2010-08-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

The city hit the national headlines again today – but once again for all the wrong reasons. The Daily Express decided to splash on our ‘migrant squatter shambles’ and the headline was promptly picked up by other news channels including BBC Five Live breakfast show.

For a city trying to attract new companies to relocate to Peterborough and help kickstart new jobs, new homes and new opportunities out in the wider communities, it’s enough to make you weep.

If ever there was a PR job to do, now is the time.

Yes, there’s no denying there are issues with migrant workers living rough on our streets (and roundabouts!) and the associated issues this inevitably throws up in local schools, health centres and so on.

And Peterborough is by no means the perfect haven to set up business or home. We have our fair share of problems. But for every negative story, there will be a positive one – people just don’t bother talking about them any more.

Bigging up the city, rather than knocking it at every possible chance, is the job of us all. The local authorities (the council but also the hospital trust), government-funded agencies (Opportunity Peterborough), business groups (the chamber), media outlets (the ET, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire), leading local companies (Perkins, Thomas Cook), high profile individuals (those without a political point to make), all need to be shouting about the good things happening here.

If the positive PR doesn’t start from within then we will never get away from the typical Express headline. Other national press have carried similar sorry tales about the city in recent months and unfortunately these set the stall by which people outside the city judge us.

It’s not a great position to be in – but it’s not irreversible, it just needs some positive thinking from within.

Let’s all be more positive about our home city.

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

Social networking and GPS could change the way we market our businesses

2010-08-10T01:26:00.000-07:00

Social networking continues to develop at a rate of knots with some pretty big step changes along the way. With the emphasis shifting from asking each other ‘what are you doing?’ to ‘where are you?’, location is becoming the driving force and GPS is most definitely making its mark.   

Satellite navigation software is now installed as standard on Smartphones and providers are making it difficult for users not to share locations. Apple, for instance, closes its iTunes store to people who won’t disclose where they are! Rummble and Foursquare are a couple of examples of popular emerging location based networks and worth exploring further.

Foursquare is being profiled as the next big thing after Twitter – the app already has two million users – it uses GPS technology in mobile phones to pinpoint people’s positions, then lists shops, pubs, cafes and other nearby places.

Imagine walking through London, looking for somewhere to eat, and receiving ‘in the area’ discount codes and promotional offers to your mobile? And afterwards you can leave tips and reviews for others to follow.

Location based networks could open up a whole new world for businesses, particularly those working in retail, tourism, leisure, and food and drink sectors, where there are endless possibilities.

Foursquare has taken off in the US (San Francisco is home to the most users) and is now beginning to emerge here in the UK. Another American success, Amazon’s online grocery service, has also now arrived in the UK. Customers have access to 22,000 stock lines with free delivery and discounts for buying in bulk.

Could this signal a little competition for our online supermarket giants? It will be interesting to watch. In the meantime, Tesco needs to keep a careful check on its own online marketing strategies. It recently sent a male shopper a very ‘female’ email newsletter and rather than winning his attention, it was likely to drive him to Amazon in one press of his keyboard. This one’s definitely worth a read and shows even the big boys can get it wrong!

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

Peterborough's Excellence in Skills awards highlight great local achievements

2010-07-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

Over 60 students from across Peterborough received a well-deserved pat on the back last night at the annual Excellence in Skills awards at Peterborough Regional College. We sponsored one of the awards – Best Media Student – and it was a genuine pleasure to be involved.

Paralympic medal winner Ade Adepitan was guest speaker and gave an inspiring speech to warm up the audience – not that they needed any warming up - it was very evident that every student was delighted to be part of the evening and genuinely pleased to receive this recognition.

At a time when bad news seems to seriously outweigh the good, it does you the power of good to witness this type of evening.

It wasn’t an awards do for the sake of it – from the principal, college trustees and staff to the students, their families and friends, there was a real sense of pride about the achievements being acknowledged and welcomed on stage.

Congratulations to the college for another inspiring end of year event. We look forward to supporting you next year.

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

Using website statistics to complement your marketing activity

2010-07-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

Monitoring website activity for our clients is part and parcel of our work. Earlier this week, while monitoring activity for one of our clients – a retirement developer – we noticed a large spike in activity around 8pm on Monday evening.

That usually means something has acted as a catalyst - but on this occasion we couldn’t work out why – until we started studying the radio and television schedules from Monday evening.

Sure enough, there was a BBC Radio Four feature on a retirement village in the Scottish Highlands which had prompted a 20 per cent increase in website traffic to our client’s site, even though it wasn’t one of their developments!

Potential customers had used the kind of search terms we have optimised for our clients and that drove them to their website. We are now studying how many of those hits ended up in direct inquiries to the sales team via the Internet.

Do you know how many people are visiting your website, and when, and why?

Peter Corder
Managing Director

Protect your business image with consistent branding

2010-06-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

Signs are funny things. I recently drove passed a strategically parked van advertising top quality food in a local restaurant – not such a daft idea – but the van was rusting, dirty, old and tacky. I got an instant impression of what the restaurant standards were likely to be.

And in a very simple way – that is a good example of how important image, consistent branding and public perception is for all businesses/organisations looking to engage with their audience.

We’ve all formed a view of the rusty van restaurant without ever even knowing where it is or what it actually sells. And whether we like it or not, perception is more important than reality – because if we believe something, we make a decision based on that belief – often oblivious to the real truth.

So making sure that your business presents the right image in everything it does is crucial to success – whether it is a tidy reception area; good, clean signage; great up to date website; valeted company vans and professional marketing literature. The list goes on.

If ever you needed proof that getting signage right is just so important – just ask the officials at Swansea Council who when asking for a Welsh translation of a road sign, got more than they bargained for. The ‘no entry for heavy goods vehicles’ sign was translated as: ‘I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated’.

What image do you think that creates for Swansea Council?

Peter Corder
Managing Director

Image courtesy of BBC News

The Times could lose 90% of its daily users with paid-for subscriptions

2010-05-26T03:20:00.000-07:00

The new Times and Sunday Times websites have been unveiled in readiness for next month when both titles become the first in the UK to charge users for access. Users will pay £1 for a day’s access and £2 for a week’s subscription.

The owners, News International (NI) reckon they might lose 90% of their 1.22 million daily users. But that’s the risk they’re willing to take to prevent what they see as the current ‘free’ system undermining the value of journalism.

Other news groups will be eagerly sitting back and watching with interest as Rupert Murdoch’s news corporation leads the way.

And while NI is prepared to lose some readers it keeps quoting the experience of one of its flagship American title, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which currently has 407,000 electronic subscribers. But NI should proceed with caution. The WSJ is a specialist read - expecting users to pay to catch up on daily general news is a much bigger ask.

It also begs the next question – how are the specialist sections of The Times and Sunday Times going to fare in the brave new world of paywalls?

Media Matters regularly contribute to the property sections of these titles on behalf of our clients, in particular the well read and well regarded Bricks and Mortar supplement. I’m not certain how many current readers are going to pay to read this information in future.

So what will become of Bricks and Mortar? And what will become of other property sections if they follow suit and create online paywalls? This blog offers an interesting insight into the dilemma. Basically, it is predicting that property journalism and interest in the residential market could fall off.

And this might just be the beginning – other specialist areas of our great national daily papers could be lost because of the paywall barrier – could it signal the start of the end for the Sunday Times’ fashion supplement Style for instance, and will culture, finance, careers and business sections follow the same rocky road?

It’s certainly an interesting time – not only for readers but for journalists and the army of PR and freelance writers who contribute to these institutions.

What do you think? Should the paywall be welcomed as the way forward and will you be paying to subscribe?

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

World Cup horrors are a lesson in how not to manage a PR crisis

2010-05-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

If you ever wanted a lesson in how not to manage a PR crisis just turn to the World Cup horrors of this week. It should have been the week when World Cup fever gripped the nation. And sure enough it did, but for all the wrong reasons.

When David Beckham headed off to Zurich to hand over our 1752-page World Cup bid little did he realise the storm he was flying into. And no matter how great a PR machine he is, not even our top sporting ambassador could detract enough attention away from the unsuspecting Lord Triesman and the Mail on Sunday’s corrupt referees’ revelations.

As a former journalist I’m finding the Mail on Sunday’s actions hard to swallow as I’m not certain I could square the information reported as genuinely in the best interest of the nation.

That aside, when the bombshell did land, the FA chose a totally irrational and inappropriate method to respond – it sent an apology to the two incriminated footballing bodies in Spain and Russia – by fax!

I’ve been a journalist chasing a genuine good lead that you know is quite rightly going to land someone in hot water. I’ve also been a PR executive for a former client with a true but potentially threatening story just about to be exposed.

Both instances might seem a media game but they are far from it – people’s reputations and livelihoods can be at stake – and you can’t afford to get it wrong, whichever side of the fence you work for.

That’s why a decent PR agency or in-house PR team should naturally swing into action with what’s commonly called a crisis management strategy. I guess the FA’s PR team didn’t get a call, or perhaps they don’t work weekends when this all broke.

A faxed apology is a complete rebuff and gave the immediate impression the FA wasn’t taking the issue seriously. And it’s taken a further five days before the FA PR people have got their act together properly, using our other great sporting ambassador and London Olympic champion Lord Coe to provide proper and meaningful comment on the matter.

The week has unravelled with a mix of responses – Mail on Sunday columnist Gary Lineker has ditched his weekly contribution in protest to the paper’s revelations while UEFA President Michel Platini, not traditionally a champion for England, has insisted our World Cup bid can recover and go on to be considered as a serious contender alongside the other bids.

Whatever the rights or wrong of the media revelations in the first place, it’s fair to say the FA hasn’t managed the crisis particularly well and only time will tell what long-term affect it has had on our World Cup bid.

Would you agree? What could the FA have done differently?

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

E-voting is a realistic solution to our flawed electoral system

2010-05-12T01:14:00.000-07:00

PR stood for public relations in my world but in the current electoral climate, PR most definitely stands for proportional representation.

The shambles of the last few days have shown our out-dated and ineffective electoral system in its true glory – it’s not worth the ballot paper we put our hard-earned cross on!

Not only that, the TV images of people queuing outside the polling stations on Thursday night defied belief.

The only positive from spotlighting both of these antiquated activities is the fact both should now face an overhaul and events of the last few days should never be allowed to happen again.

One realistic solution to the polling station chaos is e-voting. The US is planning to introduce it and India has been using it since 2004.

The UK ran a pilot scheme in 2007 that threw up security issues. But that was three years ago, Internet security has been tightened up considerably, and even an odd glitch has to be better than the flawed approach we are currently using.

Forget the politics now unfolding – earlier this week I heard one BBC news reporter accuse us, the public, of being responsible for the ‘mess we are in’. Quite apart from the fact he should have included himself in the accusation (unless of course he was one of the thousands who missed the 10pm deadline!) his comments left me reeling.

The sooner the ‘mess’ gets sorted the better – the effective workings of a hung parliament have yet to be proven, but in the meantime, work must begin on creating a better, more rigorous electoral system before the time comes again to cast a vote.

Is e-voting the answer? Would value feedback….

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

Latest Martin Tempest film is a positive showcase for Peterborough

2010-05-07T03:46:00.000-07:00

Our city has been hitting the national headlines for all the wrong reasons recently so it’s refreshing to read a positive piece of Peterborough news.

City-born film director Martin Tempest has used Peterborough as the backdrop for his latest black comedy, the Bank. The film also features homegrown actors and former city schoolboys Luke Pasqualino (of Skins fame), Andrew Leeks and Harry Rogers.

Settings including Peterborough Speedway, Peterborough Business Airport in Conington, the East of England Showground and some local businesses including a couple of Fengate garages and Williams Minis.

The film got its first screening at our own Showcase Cinema this week and is due to be shown at Cannes and Edinburgh film festivals before going on general release next April.

For me, as a PR person and a Peterborian, it is doubly pleasing – first because I’ve lived here all my life and have a real sense of pride and belief in the city (feelings which have been severely tested in recent months but I still stand by them).

But more importantly, as someone who spends much of my working days building and maintaining individuals’ and organisations’ brand reputations, it is heartening to see a positive spin about the city.

Martin Tempest’s loyalty to Peterborough and desire to showcase it to the wider world is to be applauded. In light of all the recent negative tabloid headlines it would be encouraging to see other positive news stories fighting for column inches and website space.

Peterborough has plenty to shout about and be proud of – but it’s amazing when the chips seem down it’s always the bad news which rises to the surface first. In which case, a huge pat on the back to people like Martin and we look forward to seeing the Bank on the big screen next year!

What are your views on the city’s profile? Should we be fighting back against the national headlines which distort the city picture or accept this is actually a true reflection of life in Peterborough in 2010?

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

Positioning your brand online is more critical than ever

2010-04-19T02:51:00.000-07:00

You know what it’s like. You go online to find a new hotel or restaurant. It looks fantastic. The photos and menus look great. Even the testimonials are positive.

So off you go. And your excitement turns to horror when you arrive because the reality is so, so different to the website representation.

I recently experienced two examples of this. The first was a restaurant in an area I wasn’t familiar with. It’s fair to say it was one of the most disastrous evenings out I have had for many years. The website – designed with clever use of photos and creative licence – portrayed a very different experience.

The other worked out fine. But the hotel we visited wasn’t the one I had imagined in my mind’s eye. It was lovely but totally different in style/feel to the website representation. But some people would feel very disappointed.

Positioning your brand in a transparent and honest way is more critical now than it has ever been. You see the consumer is now in charge of your brand . A bad experience; a misleading description; or overpromising and under-delivering can quickly become fatal.

The power of social network sites now means that negative comments can spread like wildfire. And we all know how damaging that can be to any business. Today, there is no hiding place.

Don’t try and make out you’re something you’re not – it will simply work against you.

Peter Corder
Managing Director

Election party leader debate generates over 10,000 tweets

2010-04-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

So they say that Nick Clegg won the first of the election party leader debates – but everyone has an opinion on it.

There’s little doubt, as we’ve often said in our blogs that this forthcoming election will be played out as much in the online world as in the physical world – and you have just got to look at the activity on social network forum Twitter to see just how crucial the online debate will be.

The potential chancellors’ recent debate generated over 10,000 tweets during the hour-long discussion. Heaven knows what level of activity was generated by the first leaders’ debate.

All three main parties are tactically using Twitter. Alistair Campbell and Ellie Gellard are prolific tweeters for Labour while the Tories chairman Eric Pickles and Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg are doing the same for their parties. There are lots of other party activists and celebrity supporters tweeting heavily on their election thoughts.

Facebook has a Democracy UK page that is focusing heavily on the election debates but right across the online world – the political lobbying is building in volume. We now live in an era where social networking means that we can’t afford to ignore the views of our customers, or in a political sense – the British electorate.

Whether we’re providing a service or product or are seeking votes, we have to understand and listen to what people are saying and then respond to meet their concerns or needs – otherwise we become irrelevant to our target audience.

Today more than ever – the consumer really is king – and ultimately, they are in charge of your brand.

Peter Corder
Managing Director

Electoral Commission using Facebook to reach young voters

2010-04-15T04:21:00.000-07:00

The Electoral Commission is using Facebook to reach eligible young voters and encourage them to sign up and get registered for this year’s forthcoming General Election.   Great news. A perfect example of a compatible communication tool being used effectively to reach a target audience.

My son turned 18 in August 2009. The only communication he received from any politicial party was an 18th birthday card from David Cameron. Nice touch but total waste of money – the card said nothing of significance and wasn’t followed up with any other communication. And there has been a total lack of non-activity by all other parties.

It is refreshing to see the Electoral Commission entering the very relevant world of Facebook to start to talk to the 18-plus age group.

It’s fair to say that only those teenagers with an interest in politics through education, family or peer influence, are those likely to be looking forward to May 6th and their first chance to vote.

That means there will be literally thousands who have so far felt totally disengaged by the whole political scene and won’t be venturing to their nearest polling station.

What a missed PR opportunity. The young voter has so much potential, and is arguably ripe for influencing! A great target for any party.

With the growth of social media I’m certain the next General Election campaign will be much more online and much more in tune with the younger audience – a birthday card through the post will be replaced by a Happy Birthday Tweet!

In the meantime, the Electoral Commission has made a start, thank goodness.

And just in case we think all teenagers have their head in the clouds (not my son, that birthday card obviously had some impact!), read this piece from the Independent – very enlightening.

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

The Times and Sunday Times to start charging for Internet news

2010-03-26T05:43:00.000-07:00

Well it was only a matter of time before Rupert Murdoch turned his words into actions and that historic day has arrived – news on the Internet will no longer be free.

The Times and Sunday Times are the first British papers to start charging to access their websites. News International will be ringing the changes from June with users paying £1 for a day’s access and £2 for a week’s subscription.

Coming from a journalist background, there’s a real sense of déjà vu – it takes me back to the days of free v paid-for titles vying for readers.

The big question being asked by the industry now is, is this a high risk decision or could the Murdoch empire actually be paving the way for a more realistic money-making online model?

Again with my journalist’s hat on I’d like to think that this decision was based upon the fact that quality, researched and written reporting and commentary does have a value and it’s high time that was acknowledged and paid for.

However, even I’m not that naive. We all know it boils down to money.

Working in the pr business, we have all experienced the radical development of online pr and the huge opportunities it opens up to commercial businesses. The underlying theme of this immense communication tool is its openness, easy access, invite to comment, encouragement to interact.

There is a real danger that paying to read the news puts up a barrier which even the most loyal Times’ followers won’t be prepared to cross. That could mean less traffic to the website; even less appeal and motivation for advertisers; less interaction so less opportunities to build customer relationships and loyalty.   It might drive some customers back to buying a hard copy edition but that’s highly unlikely. What seems more likely if the typical ‘info-now’ Internet user is any indication, is simply keying ‘Telegraph’ into Google and moving on.

Good luck to News International – the industry watches with bated breath…..

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

The future is mobile - are desktop computers on the way out?

2010-03-17T05:01:00.000-07:00

You know how it is – we’ve just managed to get our heads around those new fangled fax machines; then the internet and mobile phones arrive; then the world goes digital mad and they’re talking about YouTube and Facebook and Google and Twitter.

And we just get our heads around the amazing opportunities these new technologies and applications offer us in our daily lives when the next big thing is predicted – the mobile future.

This is a future when everything will be on our phone/computer. There is even technology being developed to replace car keys, house keys, office keys with digital passwords – all you’ve got to do is not lose your phone!

Google is convinced that the future of computing is mobile and through a web browser. They predict that in three years time desktops will be irrelevant and in Japan, even today, most research is done via mobile phones not PCs.

Google’s Android mobile operating system places a search box on the main homescreen allowing users to search both the phone itself and the internet from a single place.

We’ll be watching films, reading books, sending texts and emails, checking the web, opening doors, taking photos and organising our daily lives – all from one tiny hand held device. What about cutting my lawn and taking the dogs for a walk?

Peter Corder
Managing Director

The Value of Social Networking - Maximising Your Online Opportunities

2010-03-15T04:10:00.000-07:00

It’s always fascinating watching the audience during a presentation or seminar. A recent one run by our company was all about maximising online opportunities and the value of social networking.

When the talk started, the audience had that ‘not another talk about how important websites are’ look about them.

But the minute the subject matter touched on targeting your audience accurately and measuring responses – suddenly you would have thought that a very large penny had dropped.

By the time the attention had turned to the power of social network sites like Facebook and Twitter you could have heard a pin drop in the room.

How many of us have heard all the jargon and nodded agreeably when people mention these new online marketing tools but actually have no idea how to make them work for our businesses? Many still have websites but no idea who is visiting them or whether they work. Madness.

A Twitter campaign kept the X-factor song off the number one slot at Christmas; YouTube catapulted Susan Boyle to global stardom virtually overnight; and online marketing has transformed business and opened up endless low-cost opportunities.

Let’s not just pay lip service to these new opportunities – jump on the train otherwise you’ll be left standing on the platform!

Peter Corder
Managing Director

EEDA conference highlights the power of social media

2010-03-08T01:47:00.000-08:00

A great example of the power of social media was the East of England Development Agency’s (EEDA) Destination Growth conference at the end of 2009. Speakers included Michelle Mone, Alan Sugar and Greg Dyke who all helped to grab the necessary headlines.

The EEDA team used Flickr and YouTube to post photos and video from past conferences to help drive traffic to the event website. A LinkedIn group was set up while Twitter was used to ignite conversations with speakers, delegates and exhibitors and incidentally is still going strong several months after the main event. There was even a blog at the centre of it all.

The aim of the exercise was to increase awareness and drive more registrations for the conference; open up different platforms for delegates to network and launch EEDA’s own push into the world of social media.

And was it successful? Well, yes, according to PR Week which carried a follow-up recently which said 50 per cent of delegates joined the LinkedIn group. And YouTube and Flickr viewed approx 3,500 times.

In total 800 delegates registered and the event was a resounding success. A great example of social media adding to the marketing mix and bringing some great results for the organisers as well as the participants.

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

The power of forums

2010-02-15T09:44:00.000-08:00

It used to be that if you needed a problem solved you asked an expert. Got a problem with your TV – ring Sony. Can’t figure out how to use an app on your new mobile – ring Vodafone.

But the new media generation doesn’t do that. They use forums. And by doing so they engage with a worldwide network of people who may not be recognised as ‘experts’ in the field but will have a virtually unlimited amount of expertise which they are more than happy to share - and, best of all, for free!

Forums are the Web 2.0 version of chatting over the garden fence - but with a whole lot more neighbours. They are the platform for potentially millions of people worldwide with a common interest to engage with each other.

It is that sheer strength in numbers that gives forums the kind of power that should not be underestimated.

One manufacturer of a vitamin supplement infiltrated a Mumsnet forum discussion board as part of, what turned out to be, a misguided – and rather unsubtle - marketing campaign.

The mums rebelled on mass and a message thread with a rather uncomplimentary title featuring the company’s name was clicked on so often that it became Google’s number one search result.

Some companies however have got it right and harness the power of forums. Dell has enabled its website to allow users to set up their own discussion threads. It takes no obvious active role in the forums but thousands of people turn to those forums for answers to their computer problems. By becoming a facilitator, Dell is pitching itself as a helpful, transparent company offering added value at no cost to the user. And who wouldn’t go to a company like that with cold hard cash when their blue screen crisis turned out to be terminal?

Suzanne Ostler
PR account executive

Social networking has tweet appeal

2010-02-02T03:54:00.000-08:00

A year ago I’d never heard of Twitter, let alone used it or understood how it could help our PR and marketing business. Now – I can’t get enough of it, and tweet (see – I’m even into the social networking language!) several times a day, and am part of a massive Twitter family.

Using Twitter with a business head on means that it is inappropriate for me to tweet about what was great on TV last night or how bad the traffic was on the drive into the office. However, it gives myself and other users in the office yet another platform to spread the PR message in so many different ways.

Brands have been created and expanded upon through Twitter, messages spread, information gathered and contracts gained at the touch of a button with an instant global audience. Many people choose to follow their favourite celebs on Twitter, with Stephen Fry one of the main players - simply as another means of feeding the nation’s desire for celebrity gossip and making us feel that bit closer to our favourite famous person.

The same principle applies to business. Building up a bank of followers who have an interest in what you have to say helps to cement your reputation as an expert in your chosen field – whether it is selling holidays or reviewing fast cars.

I use Twitter to share news about client activity, drive traffic to our website by tweeting about our blogs, newsletters and general Media Matters activity, communicate with journalists looking for case studies, source information that is relevant to my clients and share useful tweets with other users. It has also helped me rekindle several business relationships with people who I have searched and found through Twitter– or who have found me!

Twitter isn’t new and scary anymore; it is simply another tool in the PR and marketing box of communication tricks. I’m by no means an expert, but it has become part and parcel of my working day - and something we would highly recommend businesses build into their own marketing strategy. What’s more – it is fairly easy to get started!

Cetti Long
Account executive

How open and honest should you be with your digital marketing?

2010-01-22T02:13:00.000-08:00

Honesty and transparency go hand in hand when it comes to digital marketing. As a reputable company you should already have a website which reflects your openness and willingness to engage with potential customers.

But social media and Web 2.0 takes it onto an entirely different playing field – one where you need to be honest, frank and open enough to take public criticism and respond to it in the right manner.

Life revolves entirely around user-generated content; in many ways your opinions and that of your company’s don’t count for much – it’s your customers and consumers who use you, your products and services, who have the upper hand.

Comment posts, blogs, Twitter posts, Facebook walls are just a few of the headline vehicles for opinion to travel around the web and there are many more happening which you will probably never be aware of – that is, unless you choose to respond in the wrong way!

The secret is to be honest and up front about things. If a genuine criticism has been lodged at your door and you need to hold your hands up and admit to it, then do so and, more importantly, say what you’re pro-actively going to do to put it right.

Honesty is the number one rule of social media – stick to this and customers will respect your principles, and more often than not stay with you.

Domino’s, the pizza chain, used a pretty radical approach to answer some of its criticisms recently. It not only criticised its own product, it comprehensively slagged it off! An unusual marketing approach and one which is being hotly debated by scores of web users.

No-one will forget the Gerald Ratner blooper; but equally, how about the Marmite campaign where the slogan talks about the spread which you either love or hate? In fact, the company website kicks off by asking you to vote on whether you like it or hate it.

There’s no single right or wrong way to deal with bad comments and web critiques; companies all know their customer base and their product and service levels best and need to make a valued judgement on how best to deal with this.

What we all have to realise, if we didn’t already, is that customers are king and customer service has never been more important – the internet means there is no escape from any feedback and it’s imperative businesses have an online strategy in place ready to answer all comments – good and bad!

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

General election battleground on the Internet

2010-01-21T01:59:00.000-08:00

Although there is uncertainty about when an election will be called – one thing is certain – this will be the first general election in British political history that is fought as much on the Internet as it is on the doorsteps of Britain. Labour has already said as much.

Never before has political debate been so easy – with everyone with an opinion expressing it online via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and a host of other social networks. Lobby groups are less reliant on traditional media than they used to be – and that obviously makes for much more lively debate.

The oxygen of publicity is now free to all!

But the political parties are also engaging in massive online campaigns themselves and will be using the likes of Twitter to respond to the opposition’s campaigns and policy announcements.

Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are now crucial to all marketing strategies and it is interesting to see how businesses are getting to grips with online initiatives for their own commercial advantage.

One company definitely making the most of its online audience is Dell which has made an incredible killing by taking its products onto Twitter.

Many businesses now choose to launch products/major news to the world via social networks in the first instance – purely because the impact is so immediate and the spread so vast. The world really is your commercial oyster.

Peter Corder
Managing Director

Social media tools providing lifeline for communication in Haiti

2010-01-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

Never has social media played a more important role than in the disaster currently unfolding in Haiti. As the traditional channels have collapsed, the whole range of social media tools are providing a lifeline in terms of communication in and out of the country.

Twitter has become the leading channel for minute-by-minute communication and news while missing person’s lists are being posted on Facebook – the Earthquake Haiti group has over 160,000 members.

Mobile phone footage provided some of the very first and most graphic images of the devastation and loss last week and Skype is being used by media channels to help transmit reports out of the country.

As the traditional networks are repaired and get back on track, it is likely they will be totally overwhelmed as everyone tries to call into and out of the country. Social media has been and will continue to be a lifeline for Haiti and for those people scattered around the world who have direct or indirect connection with the devastated country.

From a public relations perspective, we are used to seeing these tools used on a daily basis for commercial and personal advantage. This is part of life and part of business and there is nothing wrong with this approach but it is extremely humbling to witness the value of these tools in the context of this disaster.

No-one can underestimate what a crucial part they have played and will continue to play in the months ahead. If any online cynics or ‘head in the sand’ anti-web individuals still exist or still need convincing that social media has no place in society today, then this should have persuaded them otherwise.

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

The Sun newspaper - fighting the tide of online media

2009-12-29T06:31:00.000-08:00

We may be continually bombarded at every turn to embrace the online consumption of news but some national newspapers are fighting back – with proactive TV ad campaigns of their own, extolling the virtues of traditional print media.

One of the best has recently been produced by The Sun – with a clever and imaginative iPhone parody comparing the attributes of the hard copy newspaper with the disadvantages of online news sources and applications.

At a time when even The Guardian is now creating downloadable applications for us on the iPhone to enable people digital access to daily news – we must start to question the longevity and sustainability of printed newspapers.

As someone who spent most of my journalistic career in regional newspapers, I find the Sun’s battling TV response incredibly heartening.

But the inexorable and exciting world of online media is transforming our working and personal lives in every way and I am sure that 2010 will be as empowering as 2009.

Peter Corder
Managing Director

The power of social networking - X-Factor put into perspective

2009-12-23T03:02:00.000-08:00

So little Joe McElderry – the X-Factor winner - failed to be the Christmas number one in the charts! He was beaten by a massive Facebook campaign designed to stop X-Factor ruling the Christmas roost – and ensuring that Rage Against The Machine took the festive accolade this year.

The campaign to stop Simon Cowell’s X-Factor domination was hatched by Jon and Tracey Morter who promoted Rage Against the Machine’s 1992 hit ‘Killing in the Name’ – mobilising an army of Twitterers and Facebook enthusiasts, resulting in the sale of more than half a million copies – beating little Geordie Joe hands down.

But what this whole exercise shows is just how powerful the new social networking phenomenon has become – mobilising millions of people to change things with a powerful message. This is PR at its most potent.

Jon Morter was quoted on radio as saying that this whole campaign was not about the X-Factor but simply a demonstration that ordinary people can make a difference – which could have major implications for us all in the future.

Peter Corder
Managing Director

The Might of the Media

2009-12-07T01:59:00.000-08:00

AS I write this blog Tiger Woods is the fifth most popular subject on Twitter, and you can be sure that not many people are Tweeting about his golfing ability! I don’t follow golf and don’t have an opinion one way or the other about Tiger, but I have to admit that my journalistic curiosity has got me Tweeting and blogging with the rest of them.

This latest and much-publicised incident of a famous person’s alleged ‘indiscretion’ is part and parcel of being in the public eye isn’t it? Many people may not care about the suggestions of an affair, while others will be quick to make a judgement on his character. But the story is there in front of us to have an opinion on.

Whatever that opinion, the mighty media – press, television and on-line - can’t believe its luck that someone with as squeaky-clean image as Tiger has had his reputation dirtied in such a bizarre way. We seem to be a nation obsessed with the downfall of well-regarded international celebrities – and this coverage arguably has more appeal than the drunken nightclub exploits of a WAG or model – because this is what we have come to expect from ‘glossy mag celebs’.

And then there are the high profile personalities who try, but often fail, to recover from a media dousing – Michael Barrymore springs to mind.

Tiger’s integrity and image may have been damaged, but aren’t beyond repair – and there is no doubt he will bounce right back. No one will be surprised that as the story gathers pace – as does to number of women who have alleged an affair with the star. The plot thickens…

Cetti Long
Account executive

'Paid for' v 'free' - what is the value of Internet news?

2009-12-03T07:10:00.000-08:00

Newspapers are really under the cosh at the moment due to the massive growth in online news services. Some newspapers have been forced to go weekly; go free; or even close due to falling circulations and the switch to digital advertising, which is of course, much more measurable than traditional media.

We live in a world of instant news and that has destroyed most newspaper circulations. So newspapers have turned to their websites and are maximising the digital opportunities they provide to make up lost revenues. But currently the news content is free.

Now there is a big discussion going on by proprietors keen to make money by charging for news content and blocking search engines like Google from linking to newspaper websites.

Very soon we could all be paying if we want instant online news – it feels as if we will end up with a ‘paid for’ v ‘free newspaper’ style news service war all over again – but this time on the Internet!

Peter Corder
Managing Director

Peterborough Business Awards should showcase city's success

2009-11-17T04:26:00.000-08:00

Awards are only important if you win them. Just ask the companies that walked away with gongs at the Peterborough Business Awards last Friday – and those that were left drinking lager or bitter rather than champagne after missing out.

But without demeaning the winners in any way, it seemed to me there were very few of the city’s most successful and dynamic businesses represented – and that is a great shame.

Peterborough as a city has a great deal going for it – but time and again we seem to fail to ‘join-up’ all the positives to create a big success story – and one we can market to potential new investors. Sometimes it just feels that we adopt a market town mentality instead of demonstrating our big city credentials.

Where was Thomas Cook, Perkins, Stamford Homes, Aviva, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, Royal Haskoning, British Sugar, John Lewis, Baker Perkins, Anglian Water, Churchill, Diligenta, Northgate, White Concierge, Bauer, RNIB, Tesco, Serpentine Green, IKEA, and AB Agri to name but a few? And what about the public sector – the NHS Trust and city council?

Why can’t we get those companies/organisations and lots like them to get involved, enter the business awards and move the event to the Excel centre at the showground to make it a huge, glittering occasion to showcase just what the city really can deliver?

Currently, it all seems to be a bit of a struggle…. I would love to hear from anyone who feels the same way.

Peter Corder
Managing director

Keep the lines of communication open over Christmas

2009-11-09T05:03:00.000-08:00

Christmas cards – to send or not to send?

This seems to be the burning question, only made more relevant by the recent postal strikes which created something of a mini hysteria, as thoughts turned to sending Christmas greetings to friends and family.

But are Christmas cards as we know them a bit old hat? Fair enough, your Granny or cousin in Australia may love to open that hurriedly written greeting – but what about your business contacts?

Many businesses opt for the charity card route while others spend a fortune on cleverly designed and branded cards, personally signed by the whole team, to get their subtle sales message-cum-festive greeting across.

So what’s wrong with an e-card, an electronic message as part of a company e-newsletter, or even a quirky video message which can be instantly and easily emailed direct to your contact’s in box? Not only does it save time and money, it's kinder to the environment.

It might not be as traditional as turkey and office parties but it's a way of keeping the business lines of communication open over the Christmas period. And it could bring some much-appreciated new business in the New Year.

Cetti Long
Account executive

Councillors in Somerton resign over offending blog

2009-11-02T05:47:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I talked about the benefits of blogging and pointed out a BT employee who let a critical blog get the better of him. Well last week, a town council went one better and resigned – all because of an offending blog!

The majority of councillors representing Somerton, a quiet market town in rural Somerset, walked out of last week’s council meeting and promptly resigned, refusing to represent and serve their town any longer.

The group walkout was in direct response to derogatory postings by one resident in the town. The resident, a relative newcomer to Somerton (he only arrived in 2006) had used his blog to regularly lambast many of the council’s actions and its overall decision-making.

Ironically, the council might be questioning its own decision-making now. Its drastic walkout means the town is unlikely to have a fully-elected council to represent it and oversee services for a matter of weeks, if not months.

What the town council and every other consumer-facing organisation – public and private – must realise is that blogging and other forms of social networking are here to stay. The right to comment and create user-generated copy is positively welcomed by the major search engines such as Google.

What organisations on the receiving end of ‘bad’ blogs need to understand and prepare themselves for is how best to handle this from a PR perspective.

In the case of Somerton, a little bit of context is required - how many people will actually be reading this offending blog? And for that matter, how many people will actually agree with the bloggers’ sentiments?

An official town council response, posted on the blog, might have been a better approach. Possibly other PR methods (how about a traditional letter, or better still, a personal meeting) might also have been more beneficial in understanding why this gentleman feels so strongly and what needs to be done to placate him.

Ironically, the councillors’ walkout has turned a relatively unheard of blog into a national talking point. Lesson learned!

Dawn Strange
Account director

Word of mouth works

2009-10-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

For years and years the best form of positive, free marketing and PR has been word of mouth. Good news travels fast – to coin another cliché – but it is true. Passing on information about a service, event or product from person to person is the perfect way to spread the word.

For instance, the Peterborough Italian Community Association (ICA) recently staged a celebration to mark 60 years of the first Italians coming to live and work in Peterborough.

After seeing a snippet in the local paper, I found out more on a routine visit to the ICA centre, passing the information onto some interested friends, who in turn told theirs. And there is no doubt I wasn't alone in doing this. What seemed on the surface to be a relatively low-key event as far as it was publicised, turned out to be a massive success – with many of the city’s Italians (including many of the older generation who are fantastically expressive communicators) turning out in force to make the event a massive success.

And the word of mouth ethic now applies more than ever to business and what you have to offer. Networking provides a wonderful opportunity to tell like-minded business people just what you do, with the hope that they will relay it to their own colleagues and other contacts.

But word of mouth doesn’t necessarily mean face to face anymore – spreading your message to a national and even world-wide audience is now instantly achievable through the likes of social networking (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc) and of course your own website and PR.

However, be sure that the message you are spreading positively reflects you and your company – it could be hanging around in cyber space for a very long time.

Cetti Long
Account executive

Congratulations to our NHS Trust

2009-10-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our local hospital trust for organising a fantastic annual awards event for staff and volunteers.

Media Matters was co-sponsor of last night’s Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Trust Annual Awards and it was an absolute pleasure to be involved.

National press and even sometimes local press take any opportunity to knock the NHS – last night was chance to put the record straight.

None of the 250 guests at the glittering event could fail to be moved or inspired by the amazing tributes paid to the 100 Trust employees and volunteers who took it in turns to receive their awards on stage - to rousing applause.

A staggering 300 volunteers give up their time to work within our local hospitals. A number of these dedicated people, including a lady who has played the piano at Sunday morning service in the hospital chapel for the last 20 years, were recognised for their long service to the Trust.

Staff as well have shown amazing loyalty with several employees recognised for their 25 years’ work.

Outstanding achievement awards were presented to teams and individuals. While the words of praise for each award meant the evening over-ran, no-one complained – the tributes all served to show very keenly that for these members of staff, their work in the Trust is so very much more than just a day job.

Media Matters writes the Trust staff newspaper and is often privileged to learn firsthand of the amazing initiatives and staff successes which happen within the Trust. But to hear it all brought together under one roof at last night’s annual awards was a humbling experience.

The Trust celebrated some pleasing results in last week’s Annual Health Check report - this week the annual awards served to acknowledge some of the outstanding employees who helped the Trust to achieve this latest accreditation.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the evening – both Trust organisers and award recipients – I can’t wait for next year!

Dawn Strange
Accounts Director

Don't shy away from blogging

2009-10-13T08:10:00.001-07:00

The blogosphere opens up new dimensions for businesses. It’s the perfect place to comment on your particular sector or business area, offering you a platform to respond to current issues. Blogging can help build your online reputation as an ‘expert’ in your field. And it’s another tool for helping move you up the rankings as Google loves blogs!

So why do so many companies shy away from it?

The main reason cited is that businesses and the individuals behind them worry about public perception, about opening themselves up for negative comments.

But the entire principle of social networking is to open up conversations and encourage response - good and bad. Web 3.0 is just around the corner and this will take the ‘social’ in social networking onto an even more interactive level.

Businesses should be big, brave and transparent enough to shoulder valid criticism, not just lap up the praise.

The irony is, unless there is something exceptionally bad which deserves a public dressing down, most comments and reviews tend to be positive – people like to spread news of good services, good experiences and good value.

Don’t be afraid of blogging - embrace it because it opens up another internet world for your business.

But just before you do.... enjoy this blogging blooper, courtesy of a BT employee in response to a blog posting about the BT web clicks service.

Passion and PR

2009-10-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

Passion – the dictionary defines it as ‘any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling’. In the world of PR, passion is what makes the difference. Thinking something is a good cause might make you donate a few pounds. Feeling passionately about it would make you organise a fundraiser, shout about it, spread the word and inspire everyone you know to dig deep – for instance.

On behalf of a catering client we’ve been following the involvement of celebrity chefs Greg Wallace and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Eat Seasonably campaign. They are supporters of using in-season ingredients to ensure better taste, better value and less environmental impact. Listen to them speaking on the matter and I defy you not to go out and pick blackberries to make an Autumnal pie. They believe in what they’re endorsing and that makes them the very best ambassadors.

Think Anne Diamond and cot death, Jamie Oliver and school dinners, Lenny Henry and Comic Relief…

Then there’s the other sort of endorsement - the kind that celebrities who aspire to being on the front of Closer and Heat are paid for.

They say the right things, wear the right clothes, are seen at the right events but they don’t live and breath what they’re advertising. I’d give examples but plenty have probably already sprung to mind.

The right celebrity backing can transform a PR campaign from good into great. And the right celebrity will be the one with the passion to devote time and energy to the cause – just because they believe in it.

Suzanne Ostler
PR account executive

The Sun turns up political heat

2009-10-01T01:06:00.000-07:00

So The Sun newspaper has changed its political allegiance – again!

It used to be supportive of the Conservatives then switched to Labour during the Blair years and now it has chosen to go back to the Tories. The heat such a move has generated among political commentators and interviewers simply goes to show just how powerful the print media is perceived to be by political analysts.

So it was really interesting to hear Labour’s Business Minister Peter Mandelson being interviewed by Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight this week about the Sun’s change of heart.

“It is people who decide the outcome of elections, not newspapers,” he said.

He went on to explain the print media was no longer as powerful as it once was with the growth of digital media and social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Linked In. Politicians now have access to a massive audience without resorting to newspapers, radio and television all the time.

Much of the American presidential election campaign was fought out digitally. Next year's British election will be our first chance to see just how much the political parties follow the American example and use the latest media technologies.

Spread some goodwill - locally

2009-09-21T03:35:00.000-07:00

We’ve blogged before about keeping things local and engaging with other businesses in our region. Why stop with just businesses? We haven’t.
We’re long time supporters of the NSPCC through the charity’s Peterborough Business Support Group. They’ve raised an incredible £350,000 over the last 11 years and all that money goes towards helping vulnerable youngsters in the city.
It’s not just a case of putting your hand in your pocket. We’ve had some great days and nights out at events organised by the charity. The annual music quiz is a particular favourite – despite the arguments over who’s going to be in whose team!
This year we’ve joined forces with Anne Corder Recruitment – another Peterborough-based company – to sponsor the Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Trust Staff Awards.
We’ve worked closely with the Trust for a number of years so it felt like a logical progression.
There are several strands to all this charitable giving – most importantly, good causes in our local area benefit. Secondly, we get a lovely warm glow from doing something selfless. And thirdly, we get a spot of positive publicity for ourselves.
It’s a win-win-win!

Suzanne Ostler
PR account executive

Thinking outside the box

2009-09-16T03:25:00.000-07:00

Here at Media Matters we like nothing better than a spot of cooking. A member of the team brings the flour, someone else the sugar, another person the butter and finally the eggs that bind it all together. Whatever the ingredients, we make up the recipe as we go along, mixing and stirring and always creating something delicious!

Cooking is actually our very own version of brainstorming, thinking outside the box – whatever you like to call it.

We make time in our business for regular ‘cooking sessions’ – which on the face of it may sound like an excuse for a tea break, but in fact are vital for our work. Account handlers often request cooking sessions when they are looking for fresh, creative ideas to present to clients – with the best results coming from inviting colleagues not connected with that particular client to throw in their ideas.

While brainstorming has always been part and parcel of what we do, the cooking sessions are focussed, driven, motivational and highly beneficial – for us as PR representatives, event organisers and in other areas of our work – but especially for the client.

It’s easy to do what you’ve always done and plod along regardless. But that runs the risk of being left behind. The same can be said of any aspect of life, business in particular. Cooking, brainstorming, forums, thinking outside the box – however you term it - the theory is the same but the results could be dramatic.

We suggest you give it a go!

Cetti Long
PR Account executive

We shut up.... and listen

2009-09-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

I spent six hours last week at a public exhibition talking to residents about proposals for a new development - by one of our clients - in the heart of their town.

Reactions were mixed, as they always are, with everyone having a view to share.

One lady in particular had some interesting thoughts about one of the entrances to the site. She felt by changing the angle of some gates a pocket of the area could be better utilised. With me was one of the architects responsible for the scheme as well as a director from the developers. Realising this lady had a valuable point, I introduced her to both. By the end of the conversation, the architect was drawing new sketches on his pad and the director was excited at the possibilities the changes had opened up.

This wasn’t traditional pr on behalf of the client. I wasn’t writing press releases, compiling a newsletter or organising marketing material. In fact, I wasn’t ‘doing’ anything at all. I was listening. And then acting on what I heard to enable the client to deliver.

As a pr exercise it was invaluable.

The lady walked away feeling she had contributed to the development. The plans are going to be modified incorporating her design tweaks. And our client has proved a willingness to forge on-going useful relationships with the people who, let’s face it, are going to be their neighbours.

Now that’s good pr.

Suzanne Ostler
PR account executive

Hats off to the National Rail Museum in York

2009-09-01T02:45:00.000-07:00

A recruitment advert in the Sunday Telegraph for a senior director at the National Rail Museum in York attracted a heavy postbag of applications – including one from a six-year-old boy desperate to fulfil his ambitions of working with trains.

The recruitment agency saw the PR potential of this application and forwarded it to the HR team at the National Rail Museum. Although unable to be interviewed for the senior role advertised, the museum’s public relations experts set to work and helped create a job as Director of Fun.

The six-year-old was duly appointed and subsequently appeared in newspapers and on national television with his proud dad singing the praises of the National Rail Museum and what a great place it is to visit.

The youngster will be used to audit the museum from a young person’s perspective from time to time to ensure the place is delivering at all levels.

What a great example of an enlightened organisation making the most of every media opportunity and strengthening further its brand values.

Peter Corder
Managing director

How an e-newsletter worked for us

2009-08-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

Last week we emailed out our latest e-newsletter – it’s a simple tool designed to do nothing other than keep our clients, suppliers and contacts in touch with what we at Media Matters are up to. There’s usually a bit of news about our services, charity or sponsorship updates, a mention of something new we’re doing, a tip or thought on pr or marketing activity which might be worth trying…that kind of thing.

It’s very cost effective – no printing or delivery to pay for, the template’s there to be utilised each time and, as journalists the writing part comes easy.

So, as I said, the latest one went out in the middle of last week.

Since then:
• a journalist we email it to has pulled information about one of our services out and printed it in our local newspaper.
• a supplier has asked us to put together a proposal for producing an e-newsletter for him
• several people have read our blog for the first time
• we have a new fan on Facebook
• someone we’ve never met has had the newsletter forwarded by a friend, likes the sound of us and wants some pr work doing

Not bad for a couple of hours work!

Suzanne Ostler
PR account executive

Websites - your digital shop window

2009-08-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

Shop windows are more than just a display of the wares on offer. They’re a statement about the company which owns the shop – an opportunity to show off, if you like, and to say something about what the company stands for.

That’s what a website is – a digital window there to deliver a message to potential customers who might be browsing past – albeit using Google not shoe leather.

It’s open 24/7 to a global market – what better way of reaching potential customers?

So why, oh why, do so many businesses pay so little attention to their website. If a shop window looks shabby, uncared for and a bit ‘off the pace’ – or like some of these, the chances are potential customers will walk on by.

Of course, some companies have thousands of pounds to throw at keeping their website right on-trend with all the latest apps and gizmos.

But there are relatively low-cost options too which will ensure your website remains current. Adding an RSS feed from a relevant, regularly updated news page helps. Linking your website to your blog, as long as it’s regularly updated, is perfect – they drive web traffic to each other too. Having a news section is valuable - posting new press releases is the work of a couple of minutes and lets window-shoppers know what you’re up to while giving the website a current date reference. Linking to relevant news on other websites is an effective tool too.

Yes, it will take a few minutes but think of it as replacing the curled and faded poster in the shop window with a bright and sassy new one.

Suzanne Ostler, PR account executive

Let's all stick together

2009-08-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

Keeping business local. It’s one of my pet things.

Nothing frustrates me more than seeing large private and public sector companies and organisations sourcing their suppliers from other parts of the UK – assuming of course that a similar service is available locally.

Yes we want best value and yes we want the best expertise. But by using external suppliers we are simply allowing money to drain from the local economy. Surely we have to try and keep business local first?

If we use local businesses our money is recycled within the area thus benefiting everyone living and working here. The money is spent in shops and on other local services and the whole cycle starts again. It just makes so much sense.

Here at Media Matters we are trying to develop local business networks in the area of the city in which we are based – and where humanly possible we will use local suppliers.

What about you?

Peter Corder, Managing director

Eight of 10 cats....make a good pr story!

2009-08-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

Did you see the cat on the bus story? Even those of us in the office who would never claim to be moggy lovers enjoyed it.

Casper the black and white cat has taken to queuing at the bus stop outside his home, patiently climbing on board and curling up on a seat for the journey.

It seems the adventurous feline has become a friend to drivers and passengers alike who ensure he is dropped off back at the correct stop in time for tea.

Some companies, you could imagine, being over-zealous and throwing the rule book at Casper, banning him from cruising around on their buses – and gaining themselves some adverse publicity at the same time.

But this particular bus company has grabbed the opportunity with both hands coming up with a plan to decorate the side of one of its buses with a giant photo of Casper – such is his celebrity status - and generating some fantastic press coverage at the same time.

It reminded us of the hamster story a few years back. A bus company banned a boy from travelling home on the bus with the school hamster. After the news hit the headlines, the company not only backed down but produced a free bus pass for the hamster. Cue – extensive positive coverage about bus company directors and their sense of humour.

As PR professionals we recognise the value of a good story, will always look for the positive spin and enjoy the challenge of turning a negative into a positive. To that end, if anyone has a roaming animal we can borrow…?!

Going the extra mile

2009-07-24T04:11:00.000-07:00

Last week, while I was organising a gardener to strim a grass verge which was obscuring a client’s advertising banner, a colleague was trying to locate a skunk – honestly!
When our media buyer earmarked a prime potential advertising spot, she trudged over ploughed fields in her wellies to locate the farmer who owned the field.
As rainwater poured off a marquee roof turning the entrance into an impromptu power shower our managing director despatched a maintenance worker to a DIY store with cash to buy guttering.
When a client’s heel snapped off seconds before the arrival of a royal visitor we prised up the grating it was stuck in to save her blushes.
That’s what we do – we go the extra mile on behalf of our clients.
Things they admit they’d “never have thought of”, we have covered – from the client-branded chocolates to the personally engraved spade for the tree-planting.
It’s a bit like the T-mobile advert currently being aired. Getting 13,000 people gathered together to sing Hey Jude in a mass karaoke event was impressive. Getting popstar Pink to put in a personal appearance was not only going the extra mile but guaranteed significant coverage on and off line – providing editorial re-inforcement of the advertising campaign.
For a PR company, it’s what we do. For our clients, it’s the little things that turn a good campaign or event into one that gets them noticed and remembered.
As for the skunk – health and safety stopped us being able to produce it at the event – but we did find one!

Suzanne Ostler
PR account executive

Poacher turned gamekeeper

2009-07-20T01:28:00.000-07:00

During my years editing newspapers we received piles of press releases sent out by PR agencies who simply had no idea what the media agenda looked like.

Many of the agencies were obsessed with ‘selling’ their client’s products or services instead of trying to get inside the mind of the journalists who were trying to write newspapers that people wanted to read.

And that is one of the reasons we established Media Matters back in 1994. We believed that by understanding the media requirements - having worked on the other side of the fence – we could generate more meaningful and readable copy that would meet both the client and journalists’ needs.

We now employ four experienced journalists in our team of 12 – who all follow those same basic principles. Our first question is usually – does this story have media appeal? And if it doesn’t, can we develop an angle that could?

That is relevant whether it involves specialist media or the consumer press.

It’s amazing how quickly PR agencies can lose all media credibility by repeatedly sending out inappropriately targeted material. So being a poacher turned gamekeeper does have its advantages.

Peter Corder
Managing director

PR: a shift in perception

2009-07-13T02:36:00.000-07:00

Launching a new service, unveiling a new product or revealing a new logo is certain to create a buzz – at least among those involved with the process.
But what happens if that buzz is just limited to you and your team? How do you relay that sense of excitement and ‘newness’ to your customers?
What you may see as the climax to a long-anticipated revamp or launch, others who are less enthusiastic could give it a cooler reception. Many people are scared of change and things that don’t fit into their comfort zone, and convincing an audience can be a taller order.
In many cases where change occurs, the reality of what we do is pretty much the same, but it is the perception that has shifted.
And that’s where the power of PR comes in.
Someone who has this off to a tee with impressive results is retail guru Mary Portas.
Anyone who has seen her recent series Mary Queen of Charity Shops will know that she embarked on a challenge to revamp the charity shop image from a cluttered dumping ground to a fashionable and affordable place to shop. Alongside that, it became a serious fund-raising venture for the Save the Children charity, with huge PR and profile raising potential.
Despite a few hurdles, Mary managed to turn around the fortunes of the Orpington-based shop, and (eventually) gain the support of the most of the volunteers working there. Although the end result was still that of a second-hand shop making money for charity (the same as before) – the perception was of a trendy, market-style place to spend your money and be seen in.
So powerful was the PR message from the series, that many more charity shops locally and around the country are adopting the same approach.
And the impact on me? I’ve got the girls in the office to sift through their wardrobe for my local Barnardo’s shop!
Even if not everyone likes what you are doing – chances are, by raising your PR profile many more will be talking about it!

Cetti Long
Account executive

Everybody needs good neighbours...

2009-07-06T01:43:00.000-07:00

Most of us have been faced with a situation of making the first move when it comes to meeting our neighbours – it’s our very own personal piece of PR!
And there are now even dedicated websites to give people pointers on how to approach their neighbours - whatever next?
In business, we seem to have that built-in ability to confidently swap a business card or engage in conversation about what we do.
But then what? Following the initial networking event or introduction, how do you continue the contact and keep your business at the forefront of their thoughts without the threat of becoming a nuisance?
Media Matters discovered earlier this year that we do have very nice neighbours, following an informal get together at our office in Lynch Wood, Peterborough.
It came about when we realised that, despite being here for 18 months, we'd barely exchanged a 'hello' across the car park.
This was our way of giving everyone in our business park the opportunity to discover if the services they require are on their doorstep.
The turnout was great, and on the back of that, we decided to take the communication one step further – putting what we preach into practice by writing, designing and sending out the very first Lynch Wood Business e-newsletter.
While conversations may be forgotten, the written word provides a reference point, information and communication source that can be filed for future use.
As we have found with our own e-newsletter – receiving one of these in your inbox, or even sending one out to a client (old or new) shows that even in this heady world of business, where diaries are dominated by meetings or general ‘busyness’, there’s a measurable and informative way to keep the lines of communication open.

Cetti Long
Account executive.

The best of the best PR campaigns

2009-06-29T02:36:00.000-07:00

WHEN you think of memorable PR campaigns – the one developed to promote tourism in Queensland last year has to be up with the best.

That was certainly the view of the judges in the inaugural Cannes Lions PR Grand Prix.

You must remember it: Billed as the best job in the world, it involved searching the earth for applicants to become caretaker on a remote Great Barrier Reef island.

It achieved worldwide media coverage, thousands of applicants and photo after photo of the pristine beaches and azure waters that so typify Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef coastline.

“It’s an absolutely classic campaign”, said Lord Bell one of the judges. “It is very simple, captured the imagination of the world’s media, used online and offline outlets and was highly contemporary.”

Never doubt the power of a good story and creative PR!

Twitter - Michael Jackson proves it's not a fad

2009-06-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

The death of Michael Jackson has proved the true value of social networking sites – even to non-believers.

Within minutes of rumours starting Twitter, Facebook and MySpace came to a crashing halt as millions round the globe logged on to share the news, their thoughts and to pay tribute to the singer.

Well before traditional media outlets were reporting the story millions were reading about it on Facebook statuses and Twitter updates.

And people didn’t doubt it was true – anymore than they would have questioned the validity of the news if they’d heard it on Sky or BBC.

These forms of passing on news have now moved out of the ‘geek’ sector and into the mainstream. With social networking sites available on mobile phones, hearing and sharing news no longer suffers the traditional physical constraints of needing to be near a tv, radio or computer. You can find out what’s going on in any part of the world within seconds – and comment on it to a potential global audience of millions.

In my experience Twitter in particular is a bit like Marmite – you love it or hate it. But whichever camp you fall into it’s difficult to argue against the fact that it has now truly earned its place in the media mix.

Suzanne Ostler
PR account executive

I've got a LinkedIn account....now what?

2009-06-17T00:54:00.000-07:00

There was much excitement at Media Matters when our online team introduced us to LinkedIn and twitter. We all built our profiles, found each other on LinkedIn, starting following Stephen Fry’s and Philip Schofield’s tweets (doesn’t everyone?)…. and then weren’t quite sure what to do next.
It’s all very well the IT crowd telling us unless we’re tweeting on twitter and connecting on LinkedIn we’ll become online outcasts but, like everything, until someone can demonstrate the value of it - why bother?
So our – very patient – online experts did just that. They showed us how you can brainstorm using your network which can number thousands despite you only having 20something connections. They helped us find people on twitter who tweeted information relevant to our jobs and our clients. And once we started to understand how we could use these mediums to gain knowledge and contacts we all became advocates.
Sadly, we can now bore friends and family for hours about the joys of using online social networking in a professional capacity.
The good news is we’re also engaging clients – helping them understand the benefits to them and their business and giving them the information they need to target the correct outlets for them.
An hour or two of training is all it takes – and the possibilities are endless!

Suzanne Ostler
PR account executive

Innovative uses for Google Adwords and Twitter

2009-05-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

There’s huge public interest in the MP expenses row at the moment and it’s no surprise that political parties are looking for new ways to influence would-be voters. The Tory Party has come up with a unique way to get their message across by advertising using Google’s Pay Per Click.

If anyone types ‘MP expenses’ into Google they are greeted with a sponsored listing that appears at the top of the page reading: “Demand a General Election - All MPs should face the voters after the expenses revelations.”

This is an excellent way to use Pay Per Click and I’m surprised that more politicians aren’t using online technology to their advantage.

We’ve also seen another innovative use of online marketing by hotel-chain, Hyatt. They’re now using their Twitter page as a concierge service enabling hotel guests to ask questions or raise concerns. Although some critics have described it as ‘flawed’ it certainly is an interesting way to use the service while still providing an added benefit to its customers.

These examples highlight the importance of thinking laterally about online marketing and always striving to find new ways of engaging people. The sooner we open our minds to blogs, social networking and podcasts the better and it’s very possible that these tools alone could help some companies through these challenging economic times.

Roberto Rodriguez
Online Marketing Consultant

Phlogging and twitching - the latest social media

2009-05-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

Forget blogging and tweeting – they’re old hat. This week’s online voyage of discovery crash lands at ‘phlogging’ and ‘twitching’.

London Mayor Boris Johnson promoted his summit trip to South Korea this week through the latest social media technology ‘phlogging’.

With the British media unlikely to follow him to Seoul, his City Hall communications team used Ipadio.com to help get his message out.

The site allows people to phlog – basically upload voice clips direct from their phone to the site where they can then be listened to.

And popular consumer website Confused.com used Twitter to invite suppliers to pitch for a potential new contract. The ‘twitch’ went out on Tuesday lunchtime and by Thursday lunchtime around 30 companies had put themselves forward.

Alongside the rest of the growing world of social media, these latest tools will have their place and relevancy – but not for every business organisation.

The secret is being aware of what’s out there and what’s accessible; but the real secret is knowing when it’s useful to your overall business strategy and when it’s not.

Embracing social media is vital but take sound advice on what will work best for you – otherwise ‘phlogging’ or ‘twitching’ could be a complete waste of your pr and marketing budget.

Practice what you preach

2009-05-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

Now, being a ‘PR person’, you may assume that I jump at every opportunity to shout about Media Matters and the fantastic service we provide!
Well – amongst friends yes – to a group of strangers – no.
My heart thumps, my head spins and I get the dry mouth syndrome when it comes to standing up in front of people and waxing lyrical about the business I’m in.
I manage to get my name and the company name out ok, then I somehow lose the thread and .. blah blah blah … and the fidgets set in.
Like it or loathe it, networking is a massive part of the current business climate. And as a PR company, we are always telling our clients how important it is for them to ‘get their message out there’.
It’s a classic case of practice what you preach. Some of my colleagues have no qualms about the whole networking thing – and I have to admit it is something I am slowly feeling more comfortable with.
Take today for example – I delivered my ‘minute to win it’ 60 second pitch without needing to reach for a glass of water, and actually being able to listen and digest what the people before me were saying!
A couple of months ago I would have lost sleep about standing up and talking on something I know better than anyone else – my actual job! Bizarre isn’t it?
I’ve just joined the Athena Network a well-connected, well-supported women-only networking group, operating nationally at a local level.
We exchange business cards, deliver our business message, highlight a call to action and receive some valuable networking training – as well as forging new business alliances and generating business leads in a professional-meets-relaxed/fun environment.
I now have some people to contact and hope for a positive outcome. Not a bad couple of hours networking, over a splendid lunch I hasten to add. I’m already looking forward to the next one – and of course, any leads that materialise in the meantime.
Happy networking….

Cetti Long, PR account executive

Media buying - it's not all about money

2009-05-08T02:55:00.000-07:00

A round robin email from a disillusioned sales rep, publicised in the trade press, made depressing reading. It outlined the difficult trading conditions and enforced budget cuts, then went on to say that ads would only be booked for the client if further discounts were made on the previous quarter’s rates.

As someone who’s worked in both corners – as an ad executive on a newspaper and now as a media buyer on behalf of clients - this kind of message does no one any favours.

Of course, money is tight and ad budgets have to be more carefully managed than ever to ensure what money is spent is used in the most effective way possible.

But media buying and planning should be based on what will benefit the client and enable them to achieve their desired objectives within the set budget. Price alone cannot and should not determine whether the advert is booked or not. Targeting the right audience is key. And then there’s the added value a media buyer should be looking for – is there a relevant feature an advert should tie in with? Is there a particular issue the advert is best suited for? Can a better slot be secured by negotiation?

Limiting advertising to those publications offering the cheapest rate is short sighted.

Working with clients to establish their needs and objectives helps a media buyer to plan and buy an effective advertising campaign. If it’s just a case of securing the cheapest slot, we might as well all opt for automated trading platforms – and that would be awful.

How ever tough times are there is no excuse for just falling back on the easy – and misguided – option of cheapest being best.

Nilesh Patel, new media executive

The Boyle Effect

2009-04-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

WE love Britain’s Got Talent here in the office, but for those who missed the contestant everyone is talking about, or who want to re-run the moment – thank goodness for social networking.
As well as the millions of viewers tuning in on a Saturday night, millions more have helped to catapult the newest reality TV stars from obscurity into an international spotlight – through the likes of blogs, twitter and youtube.
We are of course talking about Susan Boyle (who has now got her own on-line fan site and a mention on CNN) and her jaw dropping performance.
And not to mention little Hollie Steel, the star of Saturday’s show.
As well as great light entertainment, the lesson here is that while the press still has its power – the speed and accessibility of new media and social networking (or the ‘Boyle effect!’) is a serious force to be reckoned with.
But let’s not forget, once your message is ‘out there’ – that’s where it stays for a very long time – so always best to think before you act and speak, eh Mr Brown?

Cetti Long, account executive

The perfect example of great PR

2009-04-27T01:58:00.000-07:00

I’ve just been on the receiving end of a great piece of pr.

It didn’t cost a penny to achieve but the effect and impact it had on me and others was priceless.

The venue was Peterborough Railway Station, and the deliverer – the ticket collector at the main platform gate.

In just 10 seconds he managed to turn my outlook of facing a journey to King’s Cross from apathetic and inconsequential to refreshingly upbeat and extremely positive.

In the course of the day he must check hundreds of tickets and each time he finds time and energy to strike up a conversation or a friendly well wish as people set off on their travels.

How do I know this? I’ve since mentioned this experience to fellow travellers and without exception, they nod in agreement, recognising the person I am referring to!

Nothing was too much trouble for this man, no-one felt forced into conversation, in fact, none of it was forced – this was a genuine case of someone wanting to brighten up people’s day with a few cheerful words.

The fact I’m highlighting this suggests how unique this event is. We must all have experienced the shop assistant who asks for your bill without lifting her head to acknowledge you or mentioning those magic words ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ and the call centre operator who makes you feel guilty for making an inquiry. There’s really no excuse for bad manners and rudeness; we owe it to ourselves, and our employer if we’re at work, to be polite, friendly and helpful - it’s our own pr and affects how people respond to us.

But what makes the actions of the man at the railway station most significant is the position he holds - at the gate of the city. For all new rail visitors, he represents the very first impression of Peterborough – and I can’t think of a better pr exercise.

Feel free to email us other examples.

Dawn Strange, accounts director

Libel and the internet

2009-04-21T01:20:00.000-07:00

Our journalists are all legally trained and have had the laws of defamation, libel and slander drummed into them from their college days onwards.
And, in the pre-internet days (remember those?), it was just journalists who got things into print.
How different things are now! The internet has turned everyone into potential publishers. Unfortunately the majority aren’t legally trained. And, therefore, they are opening themselves up to all kinds of pitfalls they don’t even realise are there.
The laws of libel and defamation govern the internet in the same way as they govern traditional media such as newspapers and magazines.
A comment posted on a social networking site or blog carries just as much legal weight and responsibility as a release issued by a press office, spokesman or pr agency. And it’s there for ever – archived by Google, Yahoo etc for generations to see.
Yet blogs, Facebook, twitter, YouTube and MySpace feel so much more casual. Users post comments and swap thoughts like they would do during a chat over a coffee – and often give them only the same amount of thought.
Before clicking the ‘post’ button remember what it really means is ‘publish’.
Use common sense as your guide, in the absence of any legal knowledge. If you wouldn’t say it to the person’s face or at a board meeting of the company you probably shouldn’t be posting it on the internet.

Don't ban Facebook

2009-04-15T04:26:00.000-07:00

After a deluge of stories about employers blocking access to social networking sites the sea change has come.
Employers who ban the use of twitter and Facebook are now being branded old-fashioned and warned staff could be missing out on creating business opportunities.
A report by BT Business found one in six employees aged 18 to 24, and 10 per cent of those aged 25 or over, rely on social networking sites to create and develop work-related relationships.
Yet nearly half of those quizzed said they’d been given no training in the effective use of these tools and a third were concerned they’d lose clients unless they kept up with technology.
We’re getting more and more involved with clients’ online offerings including blogs, twitter, LinkedIn and company Facebook pages. Part of the process is to teach the relevant people within each organisation the best way to use the available networks and which are most relevant to their needs.
It’s like seeing a light go on in people’s minds when they realise they can network with other businesses, suppliers, clients, customers and staff without leaving their desk!

Newspapers make way for the web

2009-04-08T01:22:00.000-07:00

The regional newspaper industry is shrinking faster than our pension funds at the moment – and as a one time journalist and newspaper editor, I find that desperately sad.

Newspapers have always been at the heart of local communities, supporting business, celebrating success and generally being the focal point for discussion.

But over the last 12 months nearly 60 newspapers have been forced to close while others have announced huge rounds of redundancies due to falling advertising revenues – most down between 30 and 40 per cent.

The industry is facing a double whammy – with a massive economic downturn coinciding with a huge increase in online activity which has changed the way people digest their news and spend their money.

At Media Matters we have been exploiting the growth in online marketing and PR for the benefit of our clients. New digital opportunities provide more ‘bang for the buck’; marketing activity is more measurable and more flexible. It is much easier to tell what works and what does not.

News is now instant. Stories can be delivered to a worldwide audience in seconds – either via websites or social networks, like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. That’s hugely exciting and we need to embrace this brave new world.

However there is still something nostalgic and reassuring about newsprint – it forces you to sit down, have a cup of coffee and soak it all in – especially on a Sunday morning. But for how much longer?

Peter Corder, Managing Director

The power of the press

2009-03-31T02:00:00.000-07:00

IF ever we doubted the power of PR – just look at the way in which the media has dealt with the economic downturn.

I’ve lost count of the number of conversations with business people who have said that if the press were less negative and more positive about the economy, things may improve because it would start to build more confidence.

From the moment BBC Business Editor Robert Peston revealed the problems at Northern Rock the media frenzy began and the media were trying to outdo one another with the gloomiest stories they could find.

The run on Northern Rock that followed led to panic and most of the British population decided to stop spending money – the spiral into recession was then inevitable.

I am not being critical of the media – simply highlighting the power of the press to influence people’s thinking and ultimately their actions.

Turn the whole experience on its head and just imagine the impact positive coverage could have.

You see, I don’t believe PR is about spin – it’s simply selecting the facts you choose to report and the emphasis you put on them – just like the editors of every national newspaper do.

Don't be tempted to cut pr and marketing spend

2009-03-25T03:58:00.000-07:00

We were delighted to see that, when asked about how the recession had altered their plans for marketing and pr spend, four-fifths of small business owners said they were either keeping it the same or – in 17 per cent of cases - increasing it.
It’s good to see that so many businesses are recognising the value of shouting about what they do – now more than ever.
Unfortunately, marketing and pr are often the first things to be ditched when times get tough. But, unless you’re talking to your customers, nurturing potential customers and actively seeking out new leads, your chances of weathering the current financial storm are drastically cut.
During the American recession in the early 1980s organisations which maintained or increased marketing spend recorded a rise in sales of 256 per cent more than those who didn’t.
And going even further back, during the Great American Depression Kellogg’s kept their advertising going while rival Post cereal company cut back. Chances are it wasn’t Post Cornflakes you had for breakfast this morning.
Trimming costs is possible though by clever strategic planning. We’re encouraging our clients to think differently. Instead of producing a hard copy newsletter, create an e-newsletter. Optimise your website so it’s found on natural searches rather than having to rely so heavily on pay per click advertising. Generate free editorial coverage in the media instead of buying advertising space.
With a bit of lateral thinking and expertise it is possible to not just stay visible but to grow your profile while remaining within your budget constraints.

PR goes global - and local

2009-03-10T02:07:00.000-07:00

Talking over the garden fence is so 1950s. Now everyone logs onto Facebook to find out what’s happening in their own neighbourhood. And if it’s your industry you’re interested in, you can be nosey on a global scale by signing up to Linkedin.

There’s nothing wrong with that and, as a forward-thinking PR and marketing company, we’re busy utilising the benefits new technology brings for our clients – and our own company – hence the blog.

But there is a lot to be said for the business version of the chat over the garden fence.
Doing business locally makes sense. It cuts costs, helps boost the local economy and is good for building up a network of local contacts who you can get to know over time and who may prove useful to you in the future.

That’s why we’re in the throes of organising a ‘get to know your neighbours’ event in Lynch Wood, the Peterborough business park where we’re based.

It came about when we realised that, despite moving into our offices 18 months ago, we’d exchanged barely a nod across the car park with our neighbours. Bearing in mind there are around 80 businesses within half a mile of us the chances are there’ll be at least a handful whose services we could utilise and vice versa. And that’s probably true for the majority of them too.

So we’re opening our doors to them in the hope we can get some old-fashioned face-to-face conversations going and open up some neighbourly business connections. We’ll let you know how it goes.

PR and marketing companies ignoring online PR

2009-02-27T08:32:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Media Matters PR blog! Despite the increasing shift towards online PR and marketing, it’s quite staggering that in our own profession blogging is still a relative newcomer. PR and marketing companies seem entrenched in traditional media and either can’t see the benefits of online communication or are choosing to ignore them.

A recent survey of Britain's 100 leading press and public relations agencies found that 79% of the industry's major players have yet to develop a set of online and social media services. Only 21% offer Internet PR and of those only a tiny 14% publish their own blog.

Our blog coincides with the launch of our new-look website (http://www.mediamatters-pr.co.uk) and a new online service – our website health check. No, it’s not a ‘virtual’ medical check-up! It’s a quick evaluation of your website by our online experts. Are individual pages optimised through SEO? How do you rank in search engine results? Is there a stats package to track visitors? Does your website work in all browsers?

So many questions but so many websites fail to deliver for their business because none of the above is happening. It makes having a website in the first place almost pointless. Here’s a good blog post discussing this exact issue. Many businesses don’t realise that people tend to visit websites before deciding to make that initial contact. There are several quick and easy solutions you can take to ensure that you’re ahead of the game this year ranging from Search Engine Optimisation to Google Analytics.

It’s been said that there’s no such thing as a finished website and that your content / pages need constant monitoring. However, it’s a great time to start revisiting your website and making sure that it’s working to its full potential.