What is the most read form of print advertising?

Do you take any notice of advertising anymore?  Do you make purchasing decisions based on magazine ads?  I really can’t remember the last time I bought something because an ad told me that it was award-winning or solved exactly the problem I had.

The most recent purchases I’ve made have been clothes from H&M online because someone on Twitter told me that you could now buy from their website, some Converse trainers from eBay because again, someone on Twitter said it’s the best place to go (and to be cool and buy red), and finally an Air Swimmer (lord how amazing are these?!) because I saw the video clip on YouTube.

Why should we take notice of a brand telling us that their product is good when we have millions of (mainly) unbiased views available at the click of a button via social media channels?  That’s part of the reason that brands are so desperate to bed a blogger.  And it’s the biggest reason that companies need to accept that social media is part of their customer service strategy.

I occasionally take in the ads on the London Underground because more often than not they are quite witty.  But I don’t think I’ve ever made a decision to buy cider or a book, or go to see a movie as a result.  I couldn’t even tell you what the last ad I saw was.

However there is one form of printed advertising that we read, take in, digest and remember.

We may well read every last word, make notes, research the ad – even read the small print.

We may even tear it out of the newspaper and keep it.

What type of ads am I talking about?  Job advertisements.

That’s why this PR trick for a new film called Troll Hunters worked – and stood out.

Clicking through to the website takes you to the Facebook page for the movie.  They’ve been going since February and have just over 1000 fans, which isn’t huge but if they’re clever with content on the page then they could massively increase this.  The other factor to consider is whether Guardian reading job hunters are in fact wannabe troll hunters and in the market for a film about a ‘brave mysterious man who protects the innocent’.  Off the top of my head I don’t know but very much welcome comments!

On April Fool’s Day this year Krispy Kreme ran the following job ad:

$110k package for a Senior Doughnut Hole Puncher. The right applicant must be comfortable working with both “glazed and assorted varieties”.

Readers who were interested in applying were directed to a website where they were informed of the prank and given a special April Fool’s Day voucher.

And I’m sure I recall an ad at one time for the position of Prime Minister or Mayor of London in connection with some sort of PR campaign….can’t have been that good though if I can’t remember what it was for…

I love the concept of mixing and matching the message and the medium.  Different is good.

Everyone’s talking about… phreaking

For a start I hate the term – it’s unnatural and slightly creepy to say, what do others think?  Let’s call it dial through fraud – more information in this BBC video.

But everyone is talking about Phreaking and according to news reports it costs nearly three times as much as credit card fraud each year, yet it’s the business that takes the hit rather than the phone company – hence it’s been kept so hush-hush.

A guest on BBC Oxford news irritated his fellow interviewee by saying that not protecting your phone system is like leaving the front door of your house open and wondering why you got burgled.  This was met with criticism that it is actually the fault of the phone companies for building houses without doors.

Companies have been stung for anything from a few hundred pounds – annoying but you can deal with it, to hundreds of thousands of pounds – the difference between a business and bye-bye business.  And that’s really sad; to be put out of business by a fraudster.

It’s not a new phenomenon – Steve Wozniak claims that he grew out of phreaking and other hacking scams when he started Apple with Steve Jobs.

So, some really damaging PR for the phone companies – the naming and shaming may lead to some changes in legislation, although BT says they invest millions in fraud detection they seem a little hesitant to step in further whilst the responsibility remains with the end-user.  I’m surprised that BT hasn’t issued a statement on their website for those concerned.

Meanwhile, some great publicity for the companies looking at software to prevent the cybercrime (another awful term).

However there is little advice as to how businesses are expected to combat this type of hacking, like @notatibm says on Twitter:
notatibmAug 16, 8:29am via Twitter for iPhone

Useless report from south today about phone phreaking. They say people need to protect themselves without saying anything about how.

So, for the savvy, there’s a huge opportunity for tech support companies to offer advice and reassurance right now, and maybe even set up a Facebook page to answer people’s questions….

 

Did Twitter fuel the London riot fires?

Image courtesy of London Art News

Today I am supposed to be building sand castles and eating fish and chips on Bournemouth beach with my family.  However I’m not because my husband has been caught up in London because of the Tottenham and Enfield riots as a result of the death of Mark Duggan, shot by police officers last week.

When I first heard about the riots on Saturday night when the violence began to erupt, my first port of call was a hashtag search on Twitter for #tottenham.  I received a blow-by-blow account of the cars and buildings on fire, the looting, rioting and subsequent injuries and arrests.  I didn’t cross my mind to switch the news on because I knew Twitter would provide the latest breaking news and far more detail – down the fact that crazy people were ransacking shops and stealing hair weaves.

Reports in the media now suggest that social media had a part to play in the mass congregation of so many hell-bent on causing disruption and devastation.  Obviously those spreading the messages weren’t using Twitter because there weren’t any tweets instigating violence; just people outraged at the response of a community supposedly protesting against the death of a man with a loaded gun.  People were saddened and scared that their neighbourhoods were burning.

MiriamMohamed111:34am via web

#tottenham youth: make clear ur frustrations, think b4 targeting honest working people, and trashing poor areas.v.counter productive.
ManOfMuchMetal11:29am via web

…I wish all the residents of my adopted second home well & let’s hope these awful scenes are now well & truly behind us. #tottenham

Apparently it was the private method of BBM – messaging between Blackberry users that was the tool used to bring people together to create havoc. Messaging spread thick and fast to get people together quickly to cause as much damage as possible.

So as the trouble rumbles on and I do chores instead of dipping my toes in the sea, I hope that maybe Twitter can be used for good in these cases in warning innocent people to steer clear of trouble zones and maybe bring some of those involved to justice with pictures and videos captured on people’s phones.

Has Facebook killed the birthday card

Image courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

During a meeting yesterday we digressed somehow onto the topic of real birthday cards and how nice it is to receive one – even nicer if it has a tenner inside!  People don’t tend to post cards as much – when did you last send a postcard home from your summer holiday at the beach?  Far more likely is that you posted a picture of you with a sangria and pink nose on Facebook so everyone knew you were having a marvellous time.

I think it’s a real shame that we don’t get exciting post as much these days.  And having a toddler I’ve realised that children only get cards if they have a party.  If they don’t, their parents just send birthday messages on your Facebook wall saying that their child wishes your child a happy birthday.  So, do you relay that to a three-year old? And are they expected to be as excited as ripping open a blue envelope with a Peppa Pig card complete with ‘I am three badge’ and an attempt by another three-year old at writing their own name?!

I asked on Twitter after this conversation and the response was huge.  I asked if people thought that the greeting card was fizzling out – especially in the age of Moonpig and Funky Pigeon.  Moonpig was bought by Photo Box for £120m this month, whereas none of the high street chains such as Birthdays or Clinton Cards are having a particularly pleasant time (as mentioned by @markglynnejones on Twitter). Clinton has recently appointed the Starbucks head honcho to try and get them out of the creek.

Many, like @brillmistake said that they loved the traditional greetings card and we have a need to rip open an envelope and physically feel the paper.  And why is it that an e-voucher never feels as valuable as hard cash? Maybe because it tells us where we have to spend it?  Or maybe it’s because you can’t stash it away for a rainy day.  It’ll just disappear into the ether of one of your email folders and expire, sad and alone.

In the age of social media (I say that FAR too often), where you can wish someone a happy birthday on their Facebook wall, gift them a ‘cake’, post a photo of them looking a little frazzled around the edges on their 21st birthday – and also give them a Facebook voucher to support their Farmville addiction, why bother going and buying a card, writing it (my Father in Law actually asked me if I still owned pens), and heavens above the chore of buying a stamp and posting it….well….no contest, right?

Wrong.  If you ask me anyway.  For what my opinion is worth, post is important.  Yes Royal Mail might take three weeks to get your card to you, but it shows you care.  It shows that you have time for that person.  It shows that you’ve picked a card that suits them – usually a meerkat talking to another meerkat and saying something witty about social media but hey – it’s still a real card.

Like many including @oxtheatreco and @thepaulsutton said on Twitter, it would be a real shame if Facebook killed the birthday card.

And in business post is important too.  When was the last time someone posted you a card after a meeting to thank you for your time?  Or followed a proposal with something to make you smile?  Social media is a huge oyster of opportunity, but so is the post box.