Archive for the ‘Digital media’ Category

Location Matters

January 7th, 2010 by Charley

Location matters

In 2009 we saw the rise of user-friendly location-based services (LBS), but in 2010 location-sharing is set to come into its own.

This year, PRs who are in the know will be actively exploring the opportunities that GPS-aware services can offer, devising new and creative ways to capture consumer attention in a far more tailored and targeted way than ever before.

Last year saw the emergence of LBS and social community integration. South African social network The Grid launched Mobikasi, a 24-episode, location-based documentary about youth culture in Soweto.  Content was geo-tagged to the location where it was shot, enabling viewers to explore Sowetan culture by travelling through a mobile street map and watching video clips. This marriage of LBS and crowd-sourcing was hailed as the next generation of mobile social media.

In fact, the recent explosion of mobile applications has brought the advent of location-based app integration. Layar is a great example of this new trend. Winner of the Vodafone Mobile Startup Challenge in September 2009, the Layar browsing application is a mix of location-based technology and augmented reality. Combining a handset’s camera and GPS functionality, the mobile application overlays information relevant to digitally tagged real-world locations or items – from coffee shops to museums.

The advancement of LBS can be seen with the growing popularity of companies such as Foursquare and Gowalla, which enable consumers to tag and share content quickly and easily within social communities. The technology not only enriches existing core services, but also creates a more dynamic and compelling consumer offering.

The delivery of highly personalised brand messages, in the most relevant and creative way possible is the keystone of social media PR and the development of LBS looks set to raise the bar in 2010.

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Digital is nothing to be scared of

August 13th, 2009 by Andrew

Hello – I’m onlinefire’s newest recruit. You’d think I might be a bit daunted about entering working life; what with the world deep in recession, under the grip of swine flu and at the mercy of 10 million Tweeters, it’s all changed very, very quickly.

But I actually think it’s an exciting time to be venturing into online PR.The methods of PR that companies are using are completely evolving through new media, making the opportunity to do something exciting and innovative with a campaign absolutely huge.

Whether you believe that social media symbolises the future of all media and communications or not, at the very least we can agree that it represents a democratisation of information – consumers are starting to speak up and companies are starting to listen. As the marketing director of the IAB  attested when he recently visited Eulogy!, digital and PR are becoming ever more closely aligned.

Social media sites have completely transformed the way brands and consumers interact. The relationship is becoming increasingly blurred. Rather than simply observing a press campaign, it’s got to the point where your average Facebook user, blogger, or Tweeter is becoming part of the campaign themselves. Likewise, campaigns are becoming much more tailored to the individual.

User-generated content, blogs and word-of-mouth are already playing a massive role in online PR; witness the success of the recent ‘Best Job in the World’ press campaign to see that. But online individuals are a fickle bunch, wanting more from the brands they consume like never before, so to get them on board is often easier said than done.

So what better place to face the challenge than with onlinefire? Here, it’s clear that everyone believes new media is something to embrace, rather than something to be scared of. Brands are increasingly realising that new media is not a fad and that it’s where a significant portion of future PR lies. It’s great to belong to a company that is at the forefront of this exciting space.

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Too much media choice?

August 7th, 2009 by Phil

Team Eulogy! recently welcomed Kieron Matthews from the IAB for one of our regular ‘Learn & Burn’ sessions.  As well as talking about the IAB’s work and giving his view on the general media landscape, Kieron instigated something of a discussion when he casually asked who preferred Sky Digital to Virgin Media.

I found myself in the minority when proclaiming that Freeview was my preferred choice.  Ignoring the gasps and cries of ‘Luddite’ which followed I went on to make the point that, to me, paid-for digital TV services simply deliver too much choice.

This got me wondering whether the changing, digitised media landscape is such a good thing. 

The assumption is that consumers want more choice; but whether this is true or not, the provision of more choice brings its own consequences.  In the television industry the traditional ad-funded model is failing, or at least stalling, because of dropping revenue, audience fragmentation, the need to expand output in the face of reduced budgets, and competition from the internet.  As a result consumers do have greater choice but quality is undoubtedly beginning to suffer. 

But aside from this there is an even greater issue.  What will these changes mean to the thousands of people who are currently employed in television production?

The term Luddite  comes from a period in British history when the Industrial Revolution threatened the livelihoods of everyday people.  Even the most ardent supporter of the new digital age and the myriad choices it brings can’t deny the similarities between the plight of those eighteenth century textile workers and the uncertain future of many in the media today.

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Posted in B2B, Digital media, Eulogy!, Learn and burn, Media & Marketing, PR industry, Social media | No Comments »