Five ways we would PR Groupon

We noticed in the Media Guardian briefing today that Groupon are advertising for a UK PR Manager – it’s a full-time position, and although the Publicity Oxford enterprise is small, we’re doing good things and we’re not looking to pack up shop….

But!  If we were, here are five things we’d do to PR the voucher giants who are Groupon.

1. Press Office

We’d set up a really conclusive online press office with logins for journalists.  It would contain all of the relevant facts and figures laid out in simple terms.  It would include logos, images and examples of popular deals.  Contact details would be easy to find.  This would cut down the day-to-day time needed to fulfil simple requests and allow our PR team to focus on more demanding, time pressured and reactive communications.  It would also include an active timeline showing the growth of Groupon, telling the story of how it has evolved.

2.  Social Media

We’d bring a personal face to social media activities providing people with a better connection to the brand.  We’d use social media to monitor opinion, improve customer service and integrate sensitively with people’s online activities.  We would also invest time in populating the Groupon Google+ page and utilise it as an additional communication tool.

3. Crisis Comms

We’d have a well planned, structured and regularly updated crisis communications plan.  Being ready for as many eventualities as possible would allow the team to work quickly and efficiently, responding to requests for information calmly and effectively.  We wouldn’t allow room for error.

4. People

We’d introduce a more personal feel to Groupon and launch a ‘Groupon got me…’ campaign where we highlighted people and their Groupon experiences.  If Groupon could ‘get you’ anything what would it be?  This would lend itself well to surveys and polls as well as case studies highlighting people who tried something different, learnt a new skill or fulfilled a life long ambition.

5. Keeping to promises

We would be that PR agency who answered the phone, responded to emails, tried their very best to make it happen and not only met expectations but went above and beyond them.  We would deliver results that made people smile from ear to ear in the boardroom, rather than giving that sinking ‘another agency that promised the world and delivered very little’ type feeling.  We’d do things differently.

 

Interested to know what you would do….

A PR’s perspective of Google+

As I mentioned to a group of people this morning, I would class myself as a ‘social media geek’.  As a company we live and breathe this stuff every day – we’re passionate about it and the potential it has.  We don’t know everything there is to know – it changes fast and things happen within the social media world every minute – but we do like to make informed decisions about how we use social media.

One thing that we do have in abundance is opinions.  And ideas.  And strategies.  And we put those to the test everyday.

So the latest social media new kid on the block now is Google+.

We don’t profess to know everything about it but we do like to be in on things from the early days and figure out for ourselves how best these tools can help us, our business and our clients meet their objectives.  Because that’s what social media should do – help you to achieve goals; not be a constant source of distraction.

So this is what we think about Google+ so far.

Google are right that search doesn’t work efficiently.

At the moment when you search for a phrase such as ‘Hairdressers in Oxford’ you get the following – ads, sponsored results, Google Places, followed by a list created from websites who have invested time and money by way of SEO to be there.

Now, with Search, plus Your World, the new way Google will organise search results, on that first page you will also find the hairdresser than your friend really thinks is great.  Search results are becoming personal, tailored and based on positive recommendations.  Not just filled with the brands that paid to be there.  This is achieved when people +1 a page which is similar to liking something on Facebook.

Small businesses can compete for stand out

This new strategy means that the average small business that found it incredibly hard to get up onto page 1 of Google, can now achieve that.  By people clicking the +1 button on their page (if they are savvy enough to add it), their website secures a better place in Google.  For the business with lots of money to spend on SEO but with shocking customer service, well, they’re going down the rankings (because people are unlikely to +1 that page).

It’s another method of communication to explore

Yes there’s a voice in one ear which says ‘why do we need another way’ – but don’t knock it until you try it.  If this gives you a new opportunity to talk to someone that you wouldn’t have been able to make contact with before, then great.

You can talk to different people in different ways

The social networking element of Google+ is based on the format of ‘circles’ whereby you can sort people into different circles – clients, suppliers, bloggers for example.  This way you can share different information with those separate groups depending on the relevance.

Profiles and Pages

Much like Facebook, you can set up a personal profile as well as a page for your business.  Build circles in your profile, and attract people to add your page to their circles as well.  Google+ was launched to focus on individuals connecting with each other.  Pages for businesses and brands came second.

It’s simple

On first inspection you kind of feel like you’re missing something.  But really, you’re not.  It’s simple.  A news stream down the middle, links to your circles and your profile and that’s about it.

We don’t know where it will go

Google had two failed attempts at launching a social media platform with Wave and Buzz.  In all honesty, I don’t know where this is going.  Initial take up seems good – whether it overtakes Facebook like Google (obviously!) suggest it could, who knows.  For now though we see the benefit in the personalised level of search as the biggest change from Google, ever.   And we look forward to seeing the creative and innovative ways that global brands utilise it.  And of course we’re brainstorming our own ways too!  It really does change everything.

Please do leave a comment with your views.

 

p.s. with the group video chat capabilities of Google+, maybe Skype should be worried?

How to use your memory – Sherlock Style

If you watched the hit BBC 1 show Sherlock last week (how can you not be hooked?!), you will have seen him trying to recall the significance of certain words by retracing paths through years of stored thoughts, images, sounds and places.

Sherlock recalled memories from his ‘mind palace’ and found the acronym he was looking for tucked away safely in one of the bedrooms of said palace – a memory he’d stored from the past.

In a busy, demanding and creative profession it can be really important that those brainwaves of ideas don’t slip away – especially as they often arrive at 3am or whilst you’re driving, showering or otherwise engaged.

So when Sherlock so dramatically visualised his ‘mind palace’ with lots of crazy waving and gestures, I decided to get myself a palace too.  I have no delusions of grandeur so have settled on a mind house for now – apparently it is far easier to find things again if you know the layout of the space already.  Figures.

So on Monday night, well past 5.30pm I remembered that I needed to rearrange a cancelled lunch with a key contact.  So, I sat him on the toilet reading The Guardian.  Come the morning, I went back to my mind house and found him, still sitting there, just where I left him and remembered to email him.

On Tuesday I put a friends mother up on the shelf in the kitchen to remind me about an idea I’d had for a press release about holidays and holiday habits -my friends mother goes back to the same resort every year.  And lo and behold, I remembered the idea in its entirety when I thought back to where I had put her.

On Wednesday I put the host of a networking meeting I was attending the following morning in the kitchen cupboard nestled in with the washing powder and fabric softener – well he is only small.  I wanted to remind myself of the theme for my ‘one minute’ – the bit where you have to stand up and make a good impression about yourself and your business.  And again it worked.

I Googled this technique and found this page about memory recall and mind palaces - it’s well worth a read.

The principle is based on the Method of Loci and works on the basis that we are better at remembering locations that anything else.  So by putting thoughts into specific locations, with symbols, icons and images to help us remember chains of information, we make them easier to recall.

“Why don’t you just write it down?!!!”  True, but if you are in a meeting with a different client and listening to what they say, you can’t make a quick note on your iPhone.  If you are driving or anything else, sometimes having your mind as a second notepad is pretty useful.

Only trouble is, the more good ideas you have, the more people you need…. anyone want a job?!

Is Anthony Worrall Thompson’s shoplifting spree a case of bad PR?

I’m quite sure that new facts will continue to emerge in the case of TV chef Anthony Worrall Thompson and his spate of petty theft from supermarket giant Tesco in Henley.  Usually when we read this type of story in the news it turns out that is was all part of a PR stunt or something obscure.

When Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall said it was no different eating puppy meat to eating beef, it certainly got everyone talking.  Negative publicity in the eyes of many but positive in making us question what we eat and what we are willing to eat.  We don’t want to eat puppy meat but we are comfortable eating a chicken that’s spent its life in a dark shed and been pumped full of chemicals….food for thought.

So what could possibly be the message behind this current masterpiece of newspaper reporting gold?  At the moment Mr Worrall Thompson has stated that he has no idea what led him to steal on five different occasions.  He’s even seeking psychiatric help.  Are we wrong to be so cynical?  Maybe he does genuinely need help and it’s a cry out for support.  Maybe his psychiatrist is very good and is releasing a book….

Some have suggested that it is a personal vendetta against Tesco which the chef has denied.  Something against the self scan system?  Pricing?  Parking?  Queues?

Maybe it’s just my overactive PR mind, but everything happens for a reason.  And I say in honesty that I hope this little fiasco has a positive ending for Anthony – and for Tesco… and maybe even teaches us a thing or two about our weekly shop.  You never know.

 

And then came Facebook Timelines

If you haven’t signed up for a Facebook timeline yet, hop over and have a look – it rolled out across the globe today so many an office will be showing little productivity in any other area this afternoon we expect.

It’s going live in seven days whether you activate it or not, so invest the time now and you won’t be saying ‘but I never wanted that on my page’ in a week’s time – just when you’ve been banned from the computer because it’s Christmas.

Not one for being left behind, I’ve just added it to my personal profile and wasted invested 20 minutes in updating my personal details.  Being a very visual person my initial reaction is a favourable one.  There are a few creases to be ironed out but it just further increases the level of interaction we’ll have with others and really takes the way we share stories, ideas and resources to a new level.

Here’s a quick low down.

- Spend 7 days pimping and priming your new timeline before anyone else sees it.

- Add a ‘cover’ at the top of your timeline which spans the whole width of the page – something that sums up your life (tough one I know)

- Update your status as usual

- See your recent activities followed by all of your updates, albums, videos and links neatly arranged in a more editorial style

- See the pages you like, new friends and places you’ve been arranged in small update boxes

- Hide or highlight anything you want from your timeline and add anything that’s missing (select the pen in the top corner of the post for options)

- Feature a story by clicking on the star (one for the exhibitionists)

- Change who can and can’t see individual posts

For the best insight into your Facebook activities, check out the activity log for everything you’ve ever shared on the site.  Rest assured, only you can see this.

Nothing much more to say, other than have fun with the latest developments in the world of Facebook; the constantly evolving, all-engrossing social networking machine.  What did we do before?! Oh yes, we just satisfied ourselves and immediate circle of friends and family that we were leading exciting lives…

Facebook is flourishing because we’re addicted to self-promotion

I caught up on the latest Facebook documentary last night, courtesy of BBC 2 (Mark Zuckerberg: Inside Facebook) with Emily Maitlis.  I winced slightly as I realised I’d checked my own Facebook at least twice since dinner and glanced over to my husband, headphones on, watching a video someone had posted to Facebook on the iPad.  I wondered then if I actually needed to watch the program or should maybe find a tangible hobby to occupy myself for the evening.

Instead I opted to watch it anyway and tweet about it…..

What I found most interesting is their strategy for rolling out new products.  A big, fast push of a new product like changes to privacy settings is usually rushed out and met with a wave of complaints.  The product is then withdrawn and then drip-fed back out more slowly once we’re used to the idea or have found something else to moan about.

Can you imagine if the average business did this, and did it repeatedly with all changes they made to their product or service?  I wonder what would happen – many businesses would collapse surely?  One bout of negative publicity or round of unhappy customers would spell the end.

But does it trick us into feeling that we got our own way?  That we won?  Even though the changes still find their way onto our walls in the end, it feels like it’s on our terms.

The main reason that Facebook gets away with it is because we can’t live without this social networking phenomenon.  We’ve become addicted to self-promotion – to sharing everything on a daily basis.  It makes us feel more important.  I know people who have comment figure targets.  They don’t feel satisfied unless a status update receives at least seven comments.  Less and your news wasn’t worth publishing.

I admit that I like sharing my news.  Especially if I’ve been really busy and off the social scene, I like people to know that I am still alive and well.  If I have good news to share, it’s satisfying to tell other people about it.

The program also questioned the value of Facebook friends and research shows that many spend so much time socialising online that they run out of time to see real people face to face. That’s the sadder fact about it.  And as with everything, there has to be a balance.

So, Publicity Oxford won’t be changing its terms in the foreseeable future, although it would be great to add something into our conditions about all meetings involving champagne.  Instead we will be making an extra effort to see old friends over the festive season.

Finally, I wonder if I’d be living so modestly if I was worth as much as Mark Zuckerberg, it does give the impression that he’s not just in it for the money…

 

Image courtesy of GIOABA Flickr Creative Commons 

It’s Pat, we mean Pay a Blogger Day

Yep, another social media driven awareness day.  This time it’s Pay a Blogger.

But, we’ve decided to partake because there are some truly fantastic blogs with very talented bloggers behind them and sometimes these are places you stumble upon purely by accident, only to find the answer to that elusive question, the solution to that puzzling conundrum or just a great recommendation for an amazing restaurant.

Social media has turned the internet into our own personal search engines.  If you want to know something then it’s not just out there somewhere, there is someone ready and waiting to tell you personally about it – and discuss it in more detail should you so wish.

So here is payment by way of a big thumbs up (and a biscuit should you wish to pop in) for our favourite five bloggers.  A pat on the back sounds totally humiliating if you ask me.

1. The Women’s Room

Stuff – pretty, inspiring, useful, informative.  Includes art, fashion, style, culture, home, garden, wellbeing – a dose of digestible bits to keep you in love with the internet.

2. Bad Pitch Blog

Learn from the mistakes of others.  If you make the same mistake, prepare to hear the words ‘I told you so’.

3. Red Ted Art

Creativity and PR go hand in hand.  Nothing like a bit of collage or crochet to get those creative cells clacking against each other.

4. Enterprise Nation

Full to bursting with useful hints, tips, advice, ideas and everything else in between.  The kind of stuff you pick up every now and again through a random person – multiple that by one hundred.

5. Blog Tyrant

Great when you want to overhaul something, anything and need the inspiration and motivation.

 

Leave a comment with your favourite.  It’s good to share.

Why not more pop up shops?

With news at the end of last week that eBay is to open its first UK pop up shop in London in time for Christmas, I was prompted to write this post having often wondered to myself whilst shopping on the high street, why there aren’t more pop up shops around.

In its simplest form, a pop up shop is a temporary retail outlet – it pops up, then disappears again.  It might be a clothes store sample sale, a gallery or a cocktail bar.  It’s a way of generating additional interest in a brand, event or service at a key buying time and is especially useful to seasonal businesses.  Disney opened a store for Tron surrounding the movie launch selling futuristic metallic clothing and accessories for example.

In October, Debenham’s went one step further with virtual pop up shops springing up around famous UK landmarks including Trafalgar Square.  Shoppers armed with iPhones or iPad 2′s could scan the area for ten party dresses, try them on virtually and upload the images to Twitter and Facebook for a second opinion.  Please don’t ask me too many questions – this is too complicated right?!  It’s classed as augmented reality I think but don’t quote me.

Back to eBay; not only will you be able to browse in a bricks and mortar shop, you’ll be able to purchase items exclusively using QR codes.  This is the first retail use of the smart phone tool and could pave the way for further uptake.  Shoppers scan the code to be taken to the item in eBay and then pay online t0 have the item delivered directly to their door.

So why aren’t more people investigating opportunities with pop up shops?  And why aren’t councils and local authorities promoting their use to fill our many empty retail units?  I can’t profess to know the ins and outs of setting something like this up - insurance, health and safety and so on, but surely bringing more life and soul to the high street has got to be a good step towards getting Britain spending again?

For big brands they are a great way to provide an experiential shopping experience and for smaller businesses a step in the right direction and that first taste of the retail world.  It’s an opportunity to be creative and stand out, attract customers in new ways.  To me, it’s really exciting.  I want one!

The Plan B advert for Bulmers had a pop up vibe as people gave out tickets for a concert not eluding to who was performing.  Those that took up the offer were overwhelmed to find that the act was Plan B!

I wonder what Mary Portas thinks of pop up shops?  In 2010 she launched the first charity pop up shop in Westfield but then last month suggested that the number of charity shops on the high street be capped.

Off to tell at least three people that they need pop up shops on their 2012 to do lists…

 

HSBC – the world’s local network?

Designed by Surefire Digital

I read this morning in PR Week that HSBC has some big plans up its pinstriped, cufflinked sleeves – to take on the mighty Facebook with their own social networking offering.

Although details aren’t yet very clear, they are setting out to provide a social platform to cater for the financial and non-financial needs of customers, and provide a forum for questions, answers, support and feedback.

This is certainly something that will stand them apart from the competition – a strong personal presence on-line; but it leaves you to wonder how many customers will want to talk to their bank in such an open way.  Maybe the odd question here and there – how far back do my statements go, what is your best savings rate at the moment and so on.  It will be interesting to hear what the non-financial offering will be – can you ask them if you’ll need your brolly on the way home from work, like you can of Siri on the iPhone 4S?

Bearing all of this in mind it’s not surprising that HSBC are also looking for someone to handle crisis communications – setting up a social networking platform for people to share their views is certainly going to open the flood gates for people ranting about bank charges, poor customer service and overdraft limits.  For example Waitrose this week found themselves caught up in a right stink on Facebook over a post from a customer complaining about a staff member calling her son an animal and her scum.  Hard to believe, but still, a crisis ensued.

If they can turn the barrage of complaints into a positive PR exercise then they deserve a pat on the back.  It certainly supports their philosophy of being ‘The World’s Local Bank’.

If they can make this work, then I’m moving my account from Lloyds TSB – well, no fun not being invited to the party is it?

 

Is there a place for more news?

We do lots of work within the toy and nursery sector so we work with both the trade and consumer press on a regular basis.

Recently the two main toy trade magazines had a new player to contend with – a new rival who promised to do things differently - Toy World headed up by the man who was previously at the helm of one of the incumbents.

All three publications are free on a subscription basis and it was an exciting announcement; some new energy and ideas, but also surprising – a launch at a time when we know just how much news is consumed online and tracked via social media channels.  Only in their second month, Toy World are however already creating a buzz.

So for now I am putting my reservations to one side about launching new publications in this ‘day and age’ as you might say.

Take another example, First News, the weekly national newspaper for children – they have a circulation of nearly 50,000, some fantastic content and have been going strong since xxx.  They’re also active on Twitter and Facebook, plus have a great website to support their offline presence.

Finally, Oxfordshire free paper The Oxford Journal now has a sister paper, The Oxfordshire Guardian launched this summer.

When we spoke to John Baulch at Toy World, he said that they’re very keen to support advertisers in lots of ways to add value to their marketing spend, whether it be via editorial, social media activities or otherwise.  Which shows just how much the advertising landscape is having to change.

“It’s important to provide people with information across a range of formats, so that whichever way they choose to access the information, they can find your brand in that space. Hence we talk about the ‘Toy World brand’ – which encompasses print, online, blog, Twitter, Facebook etc –  rather than just refering to it as a magazine”.

John believes that the reason new magazines are still being launched and advertising is still firmly within the marketing budget is because people haven’t figured out how to monetise online and social media advertising in the same way as print advertising.

“People are still very much happy to pay for advertising – and thank goodness they are, because without it, there would be no Toy World, nor for that matter any other b-2-b magazines in existence”.

John concludes by saying that there has to be a balance – that a publication cannot be totally ad driven to be credible or keep readers engaged.  Which is lucky or we’d all be out of a job!

Ric Sumner the News Editor of the Oxford Journal and Oxfordshire Guardian says that the opportunity to launch a second paper was a no-brainer and combining it with the local property paper and delivering it door to door has given them a real edge.

“The important things for me as news editor are that we have quality, original news and sport unique to each title, and on the whole we have managed that.  The look and feel of the paper has also been well received, with a clean, modern style helping to make the paper ‘feel’ like a paid for newspaper” said Ric.

Ric also commented that new websites for each of their publications was of paramount importance.  He’s also excited about other developing online opportunities and possibilities with apps.

Ric also said “I think the free model will be equally popular in five years time, with papers like the Metro and Evening Standard thriving – people will continue to want to pick up a paper for nothing to read on the train or bus”.

So the message in conclusion I guess is, if you’re paying for advertising, ask for more than just a printed ad for your money.

None of the above mentioned publications have iPad apps as yet, although Toy News has an iphone app, which may be a future step as more reader opt for this form of news digestion!