When actors get bad publicity, we often hear people say that even bad publicity is still publicity, implying that it doesn't matter much what type of publicity an actor gets as long as it succeeds in making people aware of his existence. Is this philosophy true of businesses getting negative comments on social media as well? Can bad publicity still be good news for your brand? Unfortunately, that may not be the case. How you are perceived in social media often has a direct impact on your company’s general image and reputation. To avoid PR disasters via social media, you will need to put in place a well-planned and well-thought out social media policy. Social Media and PR As social media became more ...

In case you missed it Trader Media Group has completed its transition into an online digital business with the publishing of the final editions of its magazines, including Autotrader, on 28 June 2013. It truly is a sad day and I won't know what to read in the doctor's surgery next time I am there. This is just the latest publisher in a recent trend to move all of its activities to digital platforms. It is no secret that the print industry has faced a turbulent recent history as they deal with new challenges in the form of print publishing and distribution costs.  In particular, many publications are struggling with falling circulation numbers and declining advertising revenues. ...

I am proud to announce that I will be speaking at the CIPR’s “Share This Live” Social Media Conference 2013.  Last year I wrote a quick blog post on Share This, a book that I recommend all PR professionals should try and read in order to stay up to speed with developments in the industry. The book contained practical advice from 20 experienced practitioners on how to move into digital PR from a number of different perspectives.  After, I had written the article I was then contacted by a friend of mine, Stephen Waddington the editor and one of the contributors to Share This, who asked me if I wanted to contribute to the next edition of the ...

Last Sunday 28th April, my wife and I were at a car boot sale at Ripley cricket club, near my home town of Harrogate and we experienced something that pretty much terrified me as a parent. You may have heard about the inflatable slide incident on the news or in the newspapers. Six people were injured including a number of young children but thankfully none of them were seriously hurt. At the time I was with my two young children and I suddenly heard a surrounding gasp from everyone in the field. When I looked up to my horror, this giant inflatable slide had taken off from its pitch and was moving across the field quickly with the wind. I ...

Have you ever tweeted something and spelt a word wrong? Or included the wrong link? Or worse still tweeted from the wrong account? Well now there is a new Twitter application which allows you to contact everyone who has retweeted you, informing them of your mistake. Retwact has a sound basis as it can access the last five tweets which have been retweeted, and all you simply have to do is type a retraction tweet, for example: “I was wrong about this : New Wire: Five Ways to "Get Rich Quick!" http://t.co/0WC4kKToox #student” Retwact will simply retweet the retraction and contact anyone who retweeted it ...

I read an article in PR Week last week that made my blood boil, I would have written about it sooner but if I am honest we are flat out at the moment and I failed to get my thoughts onto the blog. The article stated the following: PR professionals are among the worst offenders for exploiting interns, according to research by campaign group Intern Aware. Ten cent of the 100 firms reported to HM Revenue and Customs for investigation are either PR agencies or companies advertising PR roles. For the last three months I have been lecturing at Leeds Metropolitan University on the PR Degree and I am going to be completely honest here and say I agreed to do it ...

Google is still the master of search, the centre of the internet and the go-to site when you’re in need of whatever information you require. So, as we sit at the cusp of a huge new Google update, a giant change, one that could turn your business or client’s site into a Google flop overnight, what is it we as PR professionals and like-minded business people need to know to stay at the top of the rankings? For those who don’t know Google has two furry, feathery friends, Penguin and Panda. Google Panda is a search results ranking algorithm that was first released in February 2011 that aimed to change the rank of nasty low-quality and thin sites, and return higher-quality ...

If, like me, you have a bit of a sweet tooth and a slight confectionary obsession, then you’ll be pleased to know that Easter (aka the perfectly acceptable excuse to eat your own body weight in chocolate) will be here in just over a month’s time on Sunday 31 March. Easter is a big event in any PRO’s calendar, and over the years we’ve seen plenty of companies piggybacking the weekend with some eggcelent (sorry, couldn’t help it) campaigns. Here are three of my favourites: 1. Thorntons’ Edible Billboard After a dip in sales in early 2007, high street chocolate retailer Thorntons boosted their sales in the run up to Easter with this record-breaking publicity stunt. The company launched an edible ...

Is it just me, or does it feel like almost every ad or piece of branded content you see these days is a brand patting itself on the back for having helped some unwitting participant enjoy a richer, better, more thrilling life experience? Nowadays, when brands aren't using integrated comms campaigns to make us over, revamp our houses, or pimp-up our cars, they are pulling Derren Brown-style stunts on us that will make our lives more momentarily fun, or gift us our dream job.  It takes me back to a simpler time, when all brands did was tell us how great they were and what their products did.  To find out if their claims were true, we had to ...

I found this campaign from Nivea in Germany on a blog that I read and I have to say I love it. I imagine it cost quite a large amount of money but the execution is brilliant. The campaign was created to launch the new Stress Protect Deo from Nivea. Apparently candidates were lured to airports by their mates and were then (unbeknownst to them) identified as suspects of crime to put them through a real life stress test without them knowing. The results are rather entertaining although one candidate genuinely looks really very worried. The clever thing about this campaign is it’s sheer speed and execution as it was all done on the day from the ...