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The Downward Viral

November 15th, 2011 by Louisa

My latest guilty pleasure is Katie Price Signed (probably unsurprising coming from the girl that religiously records Jeremy Kyle everyday). Last week’s episode however, was actually educational from a PR’s point of view – that’s dedication for you. It was all about creating viral clips. The final nine hapless contestants were tasked by the Grande Dame of page 3 to “create buzz”. Each group were given 200 quid, a camera phone, a location and told to make a film that would go viral – other than that there were no directions. Whichever clip when posted on t’interweb garnered the most hits would win.

Chaos ensued as only two group members were allowed to star in the video and the other person had to film – inevitably this ensured that the point of the challenge was missed. Instead of spending the eight hours available to them coming up with a creative concept which might warrant spreadability, they bickered about who would be front of camera.

The results were pretty woeful. One group did a skit on Prince William and Kate Windsor (nee Middleton) on their honeymoon night, another also centred on the sex sells theme and spent the afternoon dressed as nuns flashing anyone that passed by and the third took the comic route of having someone dressed in a sumo suit exercising on the edge of a pond who was given a shove by a very Jim Carrey Riddler-type character. Despite being allowed to send the clip to one contact per group to spread the word and get the metaphorical ball rolling between them they didn’t manage even 1,000 hits. As one of the judges waspishly commented: “About as much buzz as wasp flying into a window”.

This just goes to show that creating a viral isn’t easy. What you may consider funny, isn’t to other people. The key is to think about what would make you forward something onto your friends. The programme rightly said that ad agencies (and indeed PR agencies) are increasingly turning to viral as a medium as it is a cost effective route to gaining wide scale awareness – however it is only cost effective if it does create wide scale awareness – otherwise it would probably be cheaper to place an ad in Downstream magazine (a specialist title for the Oil and Gas industry) which has more reach.

Viral isn’t easy and it just goes to show that not everyone with a camera can generate buzz; it is all about understanding how to get the clip correctly seeded out so that it does get those all important views. It is here that PR comes into its own. We have the skillset, the contacts and the heritage in creating conversations – both online and offline.

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Posted in Consumer communications, Creativity, Digital PR, Eulogy!, PR industry, TV, Virals | No Comments »

Absolutely fussing over nothing?

September 2nd, 2011 by Phil

So Absolutely Fabulous is making an anniversary return and, whether you’re popping the cork on your nearest bottle of Bollinger or think the joke has since worn as thin as a Gucci pashmina, it’s a story which has gained much interest.  And rightly so.  As Mark Borkowski suggests as he airs his opinions on the subject here and here, the level of promotion (and as a result, buzz) around the show’s latest outing is enough to make any PR team very proud.  But the rest of his view, to me, is a little precious.

As a PR, I’m not remotely threatened by the damage Borkowski suggests will be wrought on my reputation, or that of my industry, by the characters in Absolutely Fabulous.  The show, arguably a classic of British comedy, is populated by caricatures and scripted around hyper-real situations, told to the audience in a familiar comedic format, set to a laughter track.  What’s more, it’s been part of the television landscape, on and off, for two decades.  Will its appearance really make any difference to how PR and its people are perceived, especially when it’s worth noting that with the greatest will in the world, these new episodes won’t stray more than a few drunken steps from the themes of the original, for fear of disappointing a nostalgia loving audience?

My issue with Borkowski’s viewpoint is twofold.  Firstly, it doesn’t matter what the wider audience thinks about Ab Fab; it’s what our audience thinks.  Are we really suggesting that client budget holders, the channel owners, the industry experts, the media at large, the users of our skills and services, will base their opinion on something that’s been part of the national consciousness for so long?  Anyone can tell I’m not from the Ab Fab mould within the first 30 seconds of meeting me, so what’s the worry?  And secondly, if we’re going to think about changing perceptions, shouldn’t our time and effort be focused on building on the existing stature and value of PR to these aforementioned audiences, so we’re able to secure even larger shares of the budget?  This, to me, should be based on what PR can and does achieve, and has nothing to do with bemoaning the misadventures of an obviously fictional character.

Yes, Lynne Franks received some stick through association, but that also didn’t stop her highlighting her role as the show’s inspiration (in true self-promotional style).  Say what you like about her but Franks has always been a smart PR operator, especially when she recognised the value her association with Ab Fab delivered over any negative connotations, and went on to build a career out of it.

Getting hung up on a TV show which the entire audience knows is nothing more than a fashion-conscious joke seems a little like overreaction, or perhaps it’s simply a way of Borkowski saying something mildly controversial to generate some self-promotion of his own.  I suppose that’s what ‘PR gurus’ are famous for.

Absolutely Fussing over nothing?

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Posted in A bit of fun, Eulogy!, PR industry, Reputation management, TV | No Comments »

#panoramamail

July 5th, 2011 by Louisa

The direct industry took yet another knock, this time at the hand of Panorama and the totally unrelated issue of scam mail which the programme clumsily cobbled together with the issue of  so called “junk mail”. It’s a running joke at Eulogy! that you can mark the beginning of silly season by the inevitable expose likening advertising mail to Satan himself.

This time however, direct marketers were ready. The industry comprising 280,000 jobs, the industry which contributes £27bn to the economy, the industry that created Tesco Clubcard joined together under the DMA and took a stand and let it’s voice be heard. And what a roar it made! Using social media and the hashtag #panoramamail debate whizzed round twitter; 574 tweets were logged reaching 48,000 people.  Eulogy! spent much of Monday seeding the hashtag and encouraging industry members, thought leaders and consumers to join the conversation whilst the programme aired. And judging by the buzz, the industry’s first foray into social media self defence was a resounding success. We felt proud to represent the industry.

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Posted in B2B, Client service, Eulogy!, Media & Marketing, PR industry, Print media, Reputation management, Social media, TV | No Comments »

When did social networking become our social life?

February 25th, 2011 by Elaine

It all started with ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’.  At first, it was all about the show itself, getting totally engrossed in the frankly astounding events in the lives of Josie and Swanley, Paddy and the dress designer Thelma (who surely has made enough to retire by now). But very quickly my obsession with the programme developed into something much more; the need to constantly tweet while watching it.  Every time the narrator let forth a gem of wisdom such as “her brother, John-boy, is attending the communion ceremony as an African Prince”, I felt the need to repeat this to my Twitter followers, many of whom were ignoring the television to write the very same sentence. I also missed huge chunks of each show by excitedly searching Twitter for the glorious reactions fellow gypsy-philes were having to the wonders unfolding on the show.

Much has been said about the inevitable impact that Twitter and Facebook have had on our social lives (including this interesting piece from Gord Hotchkiss), but it really is incredible how strong the urge is to reach for the nearest mobile device when consuming media which once upon a time, used to be enough all on its own.  Take Masterchef, for example. I love Masterchef, as my colleagues and family will tell you, proven by my bookshelves groaning with cookbooks and my constant droning about how much I love Dhruv Baker, last year’s winner. However, when the long-awaited new series started last week, I spent so much time tweeting about how much I disliked the new format and finding out through Twitter / Facebook what everyone else thought, that I actually missed over half the programme.  When I tuned in again the next night, I forced myself to put the Blackberry down (well, actually, I was forced to because the rollerball broke), I realised that I actually loved the new format and I’d missed some cracking dishes the night before.

It’s not just about television, either.  As Hotchkiss rightly points out, we’ve now got to a point where social networking is starting to overshadow social interaction.  And I mean basic conversations with our friends and families.  I heard a client talking the other day about her two teenage children, who will sit on the sofa chatting to their friends for hours.  ‘How perfectly normal’, I hear you cry.  But these teenagers were not chatting in the verbal sense.  They were writing on each other’s Facebook walls. How sad that something so full of potential and innovation has turned into something which actually starts to negate all that it stood for in the first place: the ability to communicate.

So the moral of the story is that although it’s fantastic that we now have a medium, literally at our fingertips, with which to share and express opinions and pure joy about the programmes we love and the world around us, maybe it’s time we all gave in to the broken rollerball once in a while?  As my husband loves to tell me, maybe we all need to “stop talking about it and flipping watch it!!” And maybe even talk to each other once in a while?  Verbally?  Now there’s a thought…

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Posted in Social media, TV, Trends | 1 Comment »

The Beeb attacked again – why, we ask?

August 16th, 2010 by Rik

Another week, another debate over the BBC’s role in the commercial marketplace.  This time the row has returned to Project Canvas, the BBC’s internet-meets-television venture. It’s currently being developed in partnership with ITV, Channel 4, Talk Talk and broadcast transmission group Arqiva. This time it was the turn of Virgin Media to take the BBC to task, calling on Ofcom to investigate the venture on the grounds that it will “significantly and irreparably harm competition“. Once again, we find ourselves on well trodden ground.

Last year James Murdoch launched a really quite amazing attack on the BBC, claiming that “the scope of its activities and ambitions is chilling”. It’s worth reading that back and reminding yourself that this is from the man set to inherit the reigns to one of the world’s most powerful media conglomerates. And now that BSkyB has purchased Virgin Media, we can surely expect to see plenty more anti-BBC rhetoric coming from both camps. BSkyB itself is no stranger itself to concerns over market dominance, so just how much credibility should we, as consumers and license fee payers, attach to these concerns?

As far as BSkyB and Virgin Media are concerned, the BBC is harming competition across several of its platforms. The BBC was arguably the first to realise the huge potential in video-on-demand services, for example, and stole a march on its rivals with the launch of the iPlayer back in 2007. James Murdoch was again quick to voice his concerns, claiming that the iPlayer was launched as a “pre-emptive intervention” aimed at “squashing competitors” in the broadband TV market. Just a few months ago, the BBC came under fresh criticism (again, from James Murdoch) for looking to strike a deal with ITV and Channel 4, amongst others, to share content on the iPlayer platform.

Presumably Mark Thompson hasn’t been holding a gun to anybody’s head during these negotiations, which would theoretically result in more people accessing ITV’s and Channel 4’s content. It’s easy to understand why BSkyB would be concerned over the potential success of such a deal, but isn’t that just the nature of business?

The fact that the BBC is answerable to the BBC Trust gives its competitors the opportunity to play this same debate out in the newspapers which, with their vested interest, are happy to peddle the issue. If it is the job of regulatory bodies such as Ofcom and the BBC Trust to protect the interests of consumers and citizens and to promote competition, surely they should be encouraging the fact that the license fee contributes towards such innovation. And if that makes the wider industry up its game, all the better.

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Posted in TV | 1 Comment »

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