Disneyland Southport?

I’ve just been reading that the last few remaining Pontins resorts are set to be Disney-fied in a bid to attract British holidaymakers to the ailing company’s seaside locations.

I suppose it makes sense. Tourists from across the world, Britain in particular, flock to Disney theme parks in Florida and Paris leaving the twee chalets and dated entertainment on offer at Pontins looking less than appealing to today’s families looking for that annual escapism.

Having done Media Studies at university, this has made me think about theories of ‘Americanization’ and how the US has a continued influence on the popular culture of other countries. The likes of Pontins and Bultins, for me, are inherently British. The seaside holiday camps, the blue coat entertainment and organised family fun epitomise what British summer holidays were all about. I think it’s quite sad that we’re going to lose this notion of a traditional seaside staycation in favour of these generic Disney-esque resorts, but I guess we have to move with the times and people just don’t want that any more.

From a business point of view, this could be quite a shrewd move. Pontins certainly needs a refresh if it’s going to start profiting again from fickle British holidaymakers. I wonder if we’ll see kids pestering parents to take them to ‘Disneyland Southport’ rather than the pricier Florida alternative?

On another note, I think Butlins has responded brilliantly to the near downfall of small competitor Pontins with its latest advertising push. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with Ludo the dino?

Coming soon...The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Morgan Spurlock, famous for his film documenting his 30 day experiment eating nothing but Maccy D’s, has just debuted his latest shock doc - ‘The Greatest Movie Ever Sold’ at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

This time, Morgan has decided to expose the extent of product placement in television and movies (something which is being allowed to the UK again from next month).

In a neat twist, Spurlock’s new exposé was funded entirely by name checking brands and products in return for a fee. He reportedly introduced the new film to audiences at the Sundance Festival wearing a suit covered in 15 logos from all his sponsors and opened with the line “This film will ruin film and TV for you forever. I do hope it will start a conversation related to marketing and advertising.” - Which I’m sure it will if Supersize Me is anything to go by.

Really looking forward to seeing this – it will be fascinating to see some of Spurlock’s secret footage from meetings and find out how big blockbusters lock in their deals with brands. Definitely one to look out for later this year.

Definitely worth a watch...

'The Food That Makes Billions' is definitely one to check out on iPlayer if you get the chance. I stumbled across the first episode last week and was hooked straight away. Entitled 'Liquid Gold' it provided an amazing insight into how big brands and marketeers have turned bottled water into a necessity. If you fancy a change from I'm a Celeb or X Factor, upcoming episodes will be focussing on cereal and yoghurt. I'll defo be watching.

CRC is cutting it

When we first started hearing about the new trend of so called ‘pay what you think’ restaurants and bars, most people seemed to think it was a recipe for ruin. Brits are renowned for being tight so will always pay the bare minimum right?

Turns out this is not the case. In fact, the pay what you like business model has been rolled out successfully in a variety of industries. Look at Radiohead for example. The band decided to hand fans the power to pay whatever they wanted for their album, In Rainbows, and they ended up making a pretty penny.

Last week, award winning salon Cutting Room Creative in Leeds city centre launched its ‘Pay What You Think It’s Worth’ promotion. They are so confident in their service and the talents of their stylists that they have decided to put this to the ultimate test and let customers decide how much their CRC experience is worth.

Whilst this is a rather bold move for the local business, in an industry that thrives on people skills and great customer relations the ‘Pay What You Think It’s Worth’ promotion will hopefully see people digging deep for their CRC service.

Half way into the promotion and the campaign is exceeding expectations; with the majority of clients, old and new, paying on the nose and many generous souls paying even more. Is this the reaction you would have predicted?

Fancy paying what you think it’s worth at Cutting Room Creative on Albion Street? Call 0113 269 7070 to book.

Word of Mouth on the street

Today I’ve been reading about the most popular iPhone app of the minute, and one of the most clever, innovative and provocative ideas I’ve heard in a long time. Tom Ewart of Publicis is right. The public *have* grown tired and bored of the shock tactics used by charities to jolt us into donating to the plethora of good causes out there, (and don’t even get me started on the clip board people that stalk me in the street and make me feel guilty as hell).

Publicis, working on behalf of Depaul, is the agency behind iHobo. Like the good old fashioned Tamagotchi, iHobo is your very own interactive homeless man, whose life you are responsible for for three whole days. Like Tamagotchis, this high maintenance iHobo needs you to provide food, clothes and small change at any time of the day of night or he could end up buying drugs or worse still, dying.

This 'game' with a message brings to light some of the key issues the charity wants its key demographic to think about, but in a creative way which really provides the user with a more tangible connection to the people it needs to help.

Depual, the largest UK based youth charity dedicated to preventing homelessness, needed a way to tap into young, affluent donors after discovering that their average donor is 65 or older. This has clearly influenced the decision to utilise powerful word of mouth techniques, social media, and a little bit of controversy.

Ultimately though, whilst this has brought the charity well and truly into the public eye, will the app make a significant difference to donations? I haven’t seen any stats on this as yet, but my guess is it will be a success. With the option to donate £1, £3 or £10 at the end of the three days, it seems almost guaranteed that anyone interested enough to download the app (210,000 as of last week) will be interested in donating at least £1 to this worthy cause.

Happy Birthday Pacman!

Procrastination has been taken to a whole new level today with the Google homepage being transformed into iconic arcade game Pacman, which for the record is 30 years old today.

I always enjoy a good topical Google logo, but this has to be my favourite so far; probably because it’s the first ever fully interactive playable doodle, and it’s had absolutely the desired effect. Everyone seems to be talking about it, playing it, losing at it and being distracted by our little yellow friend. Genius.

(Try inserting another coin to see Ms Pacman join the party. 2 can play using the WASD keys!)

Port in a social media storm

Once again I have found myself totally out of the social media loop recently, but there seem have been some interesting goings on in the ever merging worlds of PR and social media this week, which have given a newbie PR like me a lot to think about. Due to the nature of my new job, social media will form a large and important part of the strategic campaigns I will be working on. Where there seems to be a pretty standard process to traditional media relations with certain dos and don’ts, PR practitioners still don’t seem to have such a straightforward rule book for social media relations. It seems apparent that we are still learning.

If you’re not aware of the this week’s storm which saw one agency being heavily criticised for its handling of a client’s social media arm, I suggest you check out the blog posts below and interpret them as you see fit.

http://www.wolfstarconsultancy.com/2010/05/12/pr-doesnt-need-to-get-social-media-wrong-this-time-vodafone-again/

http://adamvincenzini.posterous.com/my-response-to-the-wolfstar-blog-post-pr-does

http://www.wolfstarconsultancy.com/2010/05/13/response-to-comments-on-vodafone-post/

I’m not really interested in taking sides on this issue (as interesting as that may be). I am however interested in the implications of this issue for PR and social media, and as Stuart Bruce said; “highlighting an industry problem, and working together to fix it.”

This matter really seems to stress the two sides of PR and social media. The public side, and the stuff that is, more often than not, kept out of the public domain. Stephen Davies, for one, has shrewdly suggested that one implication of this could be that social media is not actually *that* social. What he means by this, is that our identities on social networks are purely designed for social networks. They are not really a true representation. They are how we wish to be perceived in a particular domain or field. Whilst there is of course rivalry within the PR industry, it is not that common for agency bashing to appear in the public domain, it is more a behind closed doors kinda activity. But perhaps these discussions should be more ‘social’?

Budding PR and social media officers like myself should be keeping our eyes and ears open for incidents like this. Something we keep hearing about is ‘blogger engagement’, but clearly there are ways of engaging with bloggers that are more successful than others. I have always been wary of blanket style press releases, but I’m sure they have been shown to work in some cases with the right hook. It just seems that this takes the personal touch out of blogger engagement which for me is one of the main factors of its success.

V interesting stuff...

Follow the Reality TV road...

I have to admit, one of my favourite guilty pleasures of the moment is the fabulously camp BBC Over The Rainbow. Yes, I am a self confessed ‘friend of Dorothy’...as in I follow the show on Twitter, not the other thing.

The BBC’s latest search to find the West End’s next protégé seems to have reignited an old debate, that turning the musical theatre audition process into a reality TV show is depriving the professional trained performers out there of the lead roles they covet. Is it really fair that some people go through years of training, singing in the chorus and grafting to work their way up to lead roles, when seemingly an amateur off the street, who, like Connie Fisher, has been working in a call centre, can bag a leading role of a lifetime by appearing on a reality TV show ?

My very favourite West End Star, Kerry Ellis, who has just been tasked with filling the shoes of I’d Do Anything winner Jodie Prenger as Nancy in Oliver!, seems to think that Reality TV can only have a positive effect on the industry. After all, it is “bringing musical theatre to the masses” she said diplomatically on BBC Breakfast the other day. However, she also made sure to point out on more than one occasion that, she has gone about her career the “traditional way” and proved that it can work. But is Kerry just one of a lucky (but extremely talented) few?

Kerry also hopefully chimes “there’s so much work for everyone out there”. But this is in stark contrast to Sheila Hancock, who warned Over the Rainbow contestants that only 20% of people in the industry have work at any one time.

We should remember though, that as much as the media loves a good rags to riches story a la Connie Fisher, in reality, the majority of contestants on these programmes, have the training behind them before the audition (including Connie). Lee Mead had even appeared in the touring production of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat before bagging the role of Joseph on Any Dream Will Do. The star has gone on to admit that the only way he felt he would achieve the success he was after was to go down the TV route. So perhaps the professionals should just treat reality TV auditions as any other audition, as it seems this is the direction the industry in going in.

If you fancy watching Kerry’s full interview see the vid below, if not, I urge to watch from 0:23 to see why Kerry has been so successful in this world!! I will be seeing her in action in Oliver very soon myself, I can’t wait!!

It's a...Dissertation!!

My friend’s status on Facebook recently was “Dissertations ruin lives”. I’m not sure about ruining lives, but they certainly ruin blogs...

So after my brief blogging hiatus, I’m back to tell you what actually came out of 7 months of dissertation slog.

The PR industry seems to love love love social media at the moment (as do I), and with my passion to enter the industry, the topic of social media and PR seemed like a natural progression. What I wanted to know, is whether all the buzz and hype is justified, and whether social media is as powerful as so many seem to think it is. Some areas I focused on in particular were the impact of the increasingly influential and empowered consumer, and the implications of this for crisis management.

I conducted an online survey (and a big thank you if you participated!!) which measured peoples engagement with a number of social media outlets as well as information such as where they leave feedback about products and services, and their first port of call for news. I also focused in particular on the recent Paperchase crisis as a case study and used an online survey and content analysis of blogs to monitor reactions.

In (very brief) summary, not surprisingly 99% of (about 200)respondents are on Facebook, nearly all accessing the site at least once a day. Just under 50% also have accounts on Twitter, Youtube and Myspace. I thought it was also significant to look at blogs due to claims that “bloggers are gaining recognition as industry authorities, earning the same (and sometimes more) respect and reach that traditional media...”(Solis & Breakenridge, 2009, p.2). 73.6% of respondents had accessed a blog at some point, but interestingly only 29% read blogs at least once per week, with many answering less than once per month. I still don’t think this detracts from their importance in PR strategy however.

When it comes to leaving feedback or complaining about a product or service 56% head to company’s actual website, and 40% head to Facebook. Also, 40% disagreed that they would trust a company spokesperson/website over fellow customers.

When it comes to the Paperchase plagiarism scandal, whilst not many had heard about the incident (so perhaps Paperchase haven’t felt the effects too much?) after being shown a Twitter feed and blog post from around the time, respondents developed a much more negative view of the brand. The most popular descriptors including words such as ‘devious’, ‘exploitative’ and ‘greedy’, once again highlighting the dangers of ignoring social media altogether.

Clearly, it is a challenge to squeeze a 10,000 word research study into a blog post, but hopefully you get the picture! Whilst lots of the buzz around social media may be a tad O.T.T, now is the time to start utilising social media in strategic campaigns that, if done correctly, will generate results. Some might say we are in the midst of a technological revolution...exciting times!

(I hope to upload the dissertation onto Scribd soon if you fancy reading the whole thing!)

“It’s a bit like going to a night club or a bar that’s empty...you just don’t want to be there.” Dan Wagner

Today’s news that AOL is being forced to sell or shut down social networking site Bebo just goes to show how fickle us digital natives are. Sounding very familiar to last year’s revelation that ITV was selling Friends Reunited for a mere £25million after paying £175million for it less than 4 years previously, it seems that there is only room for one major online community; Facebook.

We can attempt predict the future of the online social media landscape until we are blue in the face, but the truth is, it’s an unpredictable phenomenon which seems to change faster than we can say ‘petition to get the old Facebook back’. I mean, look at the once beloved Myspace. At the risk of sounding older than my 20 years... when I was at school everyone had Myspace, but then came Facebook. Now, the meticulously maintained profiles of my former classmates lie dormant somewhere in cyberspace (along with their Bebo pages).

It seems that there is an almost inevitable pattern emerging when it comes to big companies buying out digital start-ups. This is the opinion of a ‘source close to Bebo’ quoted in today’s Guardian. "You set out with a certain strategy and aim for a certain user experience, and they change it," the source said. "They get rid of staff and cut costs, and it still doesn't work...”

Who knows if Facebook will be replaced by another international online sensation two years down the line, but I think it’s high time we stop placing so much emphasis on the future and focus on the here and now. Now is the time (particularly for PR folks) to harness the sheer power of Facebook in the right ways and also to concentrate on the smaller, niche online communities forming on networks such as LinkedIn and Ning.

What are your thoughts?

Toyota: Crisis management goes prime time

I have recently been umm-ing and arr-ing about whether to buy my first car. Knowing absolutely nothing about cars, as I walking down the street with a friend the other day we played a ‘what about that one?’ game. My answer to most of the cars he pointed at was ‘yeah maybe’... until he pointed at a Toyota and I automatically found myself appalled at the idea, saying ‘ooh no way!’
‘Why?’ my friend replied. And then I realised I wasn’t entirely sure why, I just knew Toyota was bad.

This just reaffirmed for me how powerful the media are and how powerful PR can potentially be. I had subconsciously consumed media messages about Toyota over the recent months and had made the decision that I will never buy Toyota, almost without realising.

A fascinating documentary aired on BBC 2 a few days ago, Toyota: Total Recall (recommended viewing for all those interested in brands and crisis management) explained the reasons why I have subconsciously made this decision.

I will be forever haunted by the audio of a family’s last moments as they explain to emergency services, terrified, how they are speeding out of control and are unable to stop. Just about the worst crisis a brand can face is death, and there were many more examples of tragedies associated with Toyota’s cars and ‘Sudden Unintended Acceleration’(SIA).

Toyota, the biggest and most successful car manufacturing brand in the world, had skilfully built up a brand associated with ethics, quality and safety. The principles of the ‘Toyota Way’ inspired a plethora of businesses and organisations, even the NHS, but this crisis undermined all of this.

From the outside, Toyota seemed to be acting correctly in one particular situation, recalling products which had the same potentially fatal flaw. It then came out of the woodwork that Toyota had decided to facilitate a much narrower equipment recall, saving the company in excess of $100,000,000. What’s worse, is that this was documented on a Toyota internal memo as a ‘win’ for the company. This was described by the judge at Congress as ‘one of the most embarrassing documents I have ever seen.’ He went on... ‘Toyota had an outstanding reputation and safety record, but this discredits everyone.’

For me, the key to handling a crisis is to appear human, restore faith and above all be transparent. The first thing the North American head of Toyota said was that he ‘did not recall’ the meeting. Toyota spokespeople blamed the product faults on the rapid expansion of the company, which seems to say that profit and growth took precedence over the safety of its vehicles. These are some examples of the hugely negative messages I now associate with the Toyota brand.

On the other hand, despite some definite mishandling (including the cover up of documents which is also touched upon in the documentary) Akio Toyoda did portray what seemed to be genuine emotion and sorrow that any tragedy had occurred, and for me, did manage to put a human face on a company that employs over 300,000 people in the world. But overall this does not change the fact that my faith in Toyota has been permanently damaged, and I expect I am not alone in this. It will be interesting to monitor how this will no doubt have a knock on effect to Toyota in the future.

Be My Guest blog post: Your Digital Footprint - 5 tips to remember

This is my recent Be my Guest post which featured on PR View, Dangerous Marketing & Craig Deakin.

As a budding PR pro on the cusp of graduation and looking to take my first step into the industry, I realised that I am already responsible for my very own client. Me.

At the moment I am having to manage my own reputation and ensure that my key messages are received by my targets audience, employers. In the age of Web 2.0 it’s vital that my digital footprint is communicating all the right messages, and setting me apart from my competitors with similar degrees and experience.

I have put together a list of things to consider before sending a tweet, changing a status or writing a blog post.

1. Now more than ever, recruiters are turning to social networking sites to check out potential employees. So it’s a good idea to set profiles such as Facebook to private and have public profiles on professional networks like LinkedIn.

2. Don’t be afraid to be you. Employers may be put off if your personality doesn’t shine through on your LinkedIn profile or blog posts. Just ensure that you steer clear of topics which may dent your reputation, like how you’re pulling yet another all nighter to finish an assignment or slagging off a former employer.

3. Google yourself. One of quickest and easiest ways employers can chuck out applications is by checking out the first page of hits for your name on Google. If you’re lucky enough to have an usual name like me, use this to your advantage. By writing a blog, being active on social networks and Twitter, and contributing to other blogs, Google becomes your online portfolio. Try typing your name in and see if you’re happy with the results. I’m afraid all you John Smith’s out there will have to work that little bit harder to get noticed on Google, so why not pick a distinctive name for your blog and keep it consistent on all your networks, that way you’ll become more ‘searchable’.

4. Use social networks to network. I’ve been amazed at how many sterling contacts I’ve made through Twitter in the past few months and how many fantastic job opportunities are tweeted every day. Don’t just discount people if they aren’t hiring though, they may be able to offer you advice and support, and by keeping up a steady flow of communication, you’ll be in mind if they to end up hiring or have been asked for recommendations.

5. Be as consistent as possible. It doesn’t look great if your last blog post or tweet was four months ago. So try to be as active as possible online. I know this is easier said than done, particularly if like me every spare minute is being spent on dissertations and exams. But working it into your daily routine can do wonders to your online rep, you never know who could be checking out your sites.

So there’s a few things to bear in mind. Why not also check out Mashable’s post from last year for some similar tips from the perspective of the employer. http://mashable.com/2009/04/08/social-media-recruitment/

Jeremy Kyle for Prime Minister?

Earlier today I had the priviledge(?) of attending a guest talk hosted by none other than outspoken chat show host and self professed honest guy, Jeremy Kyle.


If you don’t have time to read my whole review, the quotes below summarise the general tone of today’s talk...

“Put something on the end of it”
“Anyone want a DNA test?”
“The show is about conflict/resolution”
“Participants know what it’s about before they go on the show”
“I might like to go into politics one day”
“We have filmed a thousand shows”
“The one thousandth show airs on Thursday”
“My new book comes out in June”
“We have made a thousand shows”
“Did you know I’ve written another book?”

This media master class, entitled “The tawdriest hour in daytime television or television with a social purpose?” frankly seemed to skim over the nitty gritty of this debate in favour of the ins and outs of ‘Jezza’s’ contentious political views, the state of ‘Broken Britain’ and the downsides of living in the media spotlight. “I can’t complain about anything ever again” he said. It’s a hard life eh Jez?

I was surprised to discover that Jeremy has actually only been gracing our screens for 5 years, but he has certainly made a significant impact on Brit culture in that time, particularly it seems amongst his greatest audience demographic, students.
Kyle was hired as Trisha’s predecessor for the coveted 9.25 til 10.30 slot in 2005, after then head of ITV Daytime Television Dianne Nelmes heard him on his late night Capital Radio show ‘Jezza’s Confessions’. The executive decision was then made to refer to Jezza as Jeremy Kyle, and from that moment on an institution was born...

Responding to the inevitable questions and comments that The Jeremy Kyle show is exploitative, immoral and is purely for entertainment purposes, Jeremy reeled off some very rehearsed sounding answers, but made some fair(ish) points. According to Jeremy, people know exactly what the show is about before they apply to go on and they are inundated with applications every year, turning 80% down. There are strict checks in place to ensure that candidates are suitable for the show and there have been times where stories have been cut as little as 5 minutes before filming commences because of concerns from the legend that is Graham. Kyle insisted that nobody is paid to go on the show, it is providing a kind of service which may be the ‘last resort’ for some participants and there is a high standard of aftercare and continued counselling after filming has taken place. (All of these points were reiterated again and again).

Interviewer Dianne flagged up a quote from Manchester District Judge Alan Berg after a fight on the show resulted in a court case.

"I have had the misfortune, very recently, of watching The Jeremy Kyle Show. It seems to me that the purpose of this show is to effect a morbid and depressing display of dysfunctional people whose lives are in turmoil"

Jeremy’s response to this was that Alan had clearly never watched the show before, the incident of violence was never aired on ITV (due to strict OFCOM rules) and most notably argued that the reason why people are so uncomfortable with the show is that they do not want to acknowledge these situations are really happening in society, and made reference to the recent buzz phrase ‘Broken Britain.’ He went on to argue that there has been a collapse of family values, all kids do is sit infront of computer screens and are not taught what is right and wrong.

Jezza was then subjected to a grilling from Newcastle Uni’s media students and some of the questions definitely made him squirm. Some highlights included “Are you aware of the Jeremy Kyle drinking game?” “Would you go on the The Jeremy Kyle Show if you weren’t Jeremy Kyle?” and “What would you do if you were a politician?” Not exactly the serious debate it was advertised as, but definitely an entertaining afternoon.

If you’re interested in hearing all of Jeremy’s points about the ‘dumbing down’ of British television, his foray into American television and his tabloid trashing, the whole master class is scheduled to appear on the Newcastle University website very soon.

Don't forgot the 1000th show on Thursday!!

Will the power of the people #SaveBBC6Music?

March is officially the month for mutual blogging. In case you missed it, here is my guest post which featured on The PR View recently.

A week doesn’t seem to go by now without a Facebook or Twitter campaign cropping up “from the people.” But very few of them are actually successful. (Just type ‘Bring Back’ into Facebook search and you’ll see what I mean).

This month, the social networks and blogs are awash with the motto “Save BBC6 Music”.

After the BBC announced inevitable cuts were going to include the niche station BBC 6 Music, as well BBC Asian Network, loyal listeners rallied round in an attempt to keep their beloved station on the airwaves.

The main Facebook groups have already notched up over 100,000 members and the Twitter hash tag #saveBBC6music has been trending near the top for nigh-on two weeks. So how is it that certain causes seem to capture the hearts of the public so?
Ironically, it seems that since Mark Thompson’s proposal to scrap BBC 6 Music, the station has received the effective publicity some argue it has never got, and thanks to this could be pulling in a higher audience than ever since its launch in 2002.

After the likes of heavily documented ‘Bring Back Wispa’ and Rage Against the Machine campaigns, is this really another example of the power of the internet groundswell? Or is the BBC cunningly taking advantage of a good publicity opportunity, as some are conspiring?

Whatever the case may be, it seems that once again, the power of the social media community has made a difference to something in the real world. An article on the BBC’s website on Thursday claimed that thanks to so called “public concern”, the powers that be may be forced to “rethink” plans to axe BBC 6 Music, along with BBC Asian network. Arguably, it’s unlikely that the relatively small yet devoted listenership scattered across the UK would have been able to cause such a U-turn without the power of social networking communities.

It has been well documented that BBC 6 Music represents only £6million of the BBC’s billion pound annual budget, so how much difference can axing the station actually make? Ex Director General of the BBC, Greg Dyke, seems to think 6 Music will still be pumping out everything from medieval folk to retro funk and soul this time next year. And until we are told this for sure, it doesn’t look like the guys at the top are going to be able to silence the internet noise.

Fancy a spot of blog swapping? "Be My Guest"

March sees the launch of an innovative new idea to showcase talents, keep the blogosphere fresh and link bloggers with great minds together.

“Be My Guest” a great “little idea” from Emily Cagle and Adam Vincenzini is an online social experiment to encourage mutual blogging. Whether that be writing a post for another blog, or featuring guest posts on your own blog, this initiative means that “The guest poster gets to expose his / her work to a new audience. The host gives his / her audience something new and fresh to enjoy.”

So throughout March, the newly assigned ‘Mutual blogging month” encourages the social media community to #BeMyGuest. Whatever your blog is about, there’s likely to be other bloggers out there that share you passion and have something really valuable to say.

I’ve already got two fab bloggers from very different backgrounds lined up to add something new to Great Expectations in the coming weeks. David Clare of The PR View and Amy Wilson of Talk Cinematic (plus a couple more in the pipeline.)

There’s 29 days left for #BeMyGuest so tell the Twittersphere about your blog with the hashtag #BeMyGuest and wait for the talent to roll in. For those Tweetdeck (and the like) users out there, create a column for #BeMyGuest and see if you would be the perfect candidate for a guest blog this month. Or keep a close eye on the real-time posterous site.

I’m so impressed with this idea and I’m sure it will go viral in no time. I’m looking forward swapping blogs and reading some novel contributions.

I actually had a taste of guest blogging last month with my contribution to the Quest PR blog, entitled ‘How Far Can Social Media Go?’

"...I am delighted to let you know..."

I recently blogged about the trials and tribulations of applying for PR grad schemes. It was a draining process and I’m pretty sure I was working on some of the mammoth application forms for a good three weeks, as attacking them in one sitting seemed impossible.

Up until last week I hadn’t heard a peep from any of them, which to be honest is what I’d expected. So when I saw the name of one of the agencies pop up in my inbox, I did get rather excited...for approximately 0.5 seconds until I opened the email and realised it was a rejection. Apparently there were over 800 applications for this particular scheme, which softened the blow a tad.

A few days later appears an email from another of the agencies I applied for. As the application form said I would be informed by the 12th of Feb I knew this was going to be another thanks but no thanks. The email started with the obligatory “...we received an overwhelming number of applications...” but as I continued to scan realised I’d spotted the word “delighted.” As I hastily re-read I realised the hours of work had actually paid off - I’ve been shortlisted for an assessment day! (Cue big smiles all round) I then realise it’s only a week away in London...gulp. Short notice, but extremely exciting.

I’ve had to fork out on expensive travel , and I’ll be kipping on a friend’s floor, but I know whatever happens it will be worth it. A day working alongside industry leaders is nothing to be sniffed at. Apparently the day is designed to be “lots of fun” and they’ve even invited us for drinks afterwards. I like the sound of this.

I’ll keep you posted.

PRedictions...What's the future of the industry?

The debate about the changing state of the PR industry seems to be rumbling on. The so called weakening press, continuing fall in print circulations, lack of journalist contacts and the social media boom is leading to questions such as “Has the British PR industry grown too big for journalism?”

There seems to be a noticeable split between those who think that the practice of PR is having to shift completely, and those who think that ultimately the role of PR is the same, there are now purely more ways to inform and persuade the public.

A recent BBC Radio 4 debate hosted by Evan Davis saw some of the industry’s top practitioners at loggerheads over the state of the PR industry. Julia Hobsbawm (Sarah Brown’s former business partner) maintained that there has been a movement on from the common definition, “the use of 3rd part endorsement to inform and persuade” to a new culture of engagement, where the public can now “answer back” in a way that was not previously possible. This, she argued, means that PR is having to become more specialised to cater for fragmented audiences. This is why I believe it’s so important for brands to cultivate a trustworthy ‘personality’ and engage in a two way exchange of information with consumers.

Tim Bell of Chime Communications hit back at this idea arguing that there’s a danger that people are rebranding the industry which is ultimately the same. Is there actually any difference between so called engagement and relations? The role of PR, he purported, is the same, there are just ‘more media’ through which to communicate with target audiences.

I would tend to agree with Tim on this one, whilst it may now be more difficult to get publicity in what Hobsbawm described as the big media influencers, social networks are now part of mainstream media, and PR officers need to become savvy in working with all outlets, both traditional and contemporary. As a budding account exec myself, I think it’s important that I am competent at traditional media relations as well working with social networking sites and bloggers. This is where the industry is ultimately headed.

Job hunting for generation Y-ers

After my recent post about the endless possibilities of twitter, and how it has the potential to lead to your dream job, The Guardian has recently published an article about how Twitter is increasingly being used as a recruitment tool.

With employers apparently using Twitter to seek out the crème de la crème of new talent, and more and more twitterers following micro blogged job vacancies, there is now a new application from the clever people at Tweetdeck, appropriately called Jobdeck, which will track recruitment developments.

Now that the UK has supposedly crept its way out of the recession, perhaps Twitter will be the key to snaring a job. And why wouldn’t employers want to advertise to an internet savvy audience of eager job hunters, rather than blow the budget on old fashioned print advertising?

But new applications like Jobdeck aren’t the only way to find work, or your new workforce. Twitter is increasingly being used for good old fashioned networking. By cultivating the right kind of networks and monitoring people in your industry, you can quickly get noticed.

This year’s graduates, also known as ‘Generation Y’, are at an advantage in that technology and social media are near enough second nature, which makes us particularly attractive to potential employers who are having to try and fathom all this out. By actively becoming involved in social networks you can demonstrate these skills even before a CV has exchanged hands.

Just recently I actually received a direct message from the managing director of a PR agency in Yorkshire who wanted to hear more about me. From a simple 140 character message I have now been invited to her offices for an informal chat. At the very least I have got myself a great new contact, but who knows what else this could lead to?

This just shows that there is something to be said for social media, and also stresses the importance of presenting yourself in the right way on all your public profiles.

University...what's the point?

It seems that a debate which I blogged about a year or so ago has come back around again. Is there any point in going to university now?

I kept track of an online debate hosted by Sarah Ebner of The Times yesterday, and the same ideas seemed to come out again and again. One of the main arguments on the side of going to university (which I would have to agree with) is the fantastic and extremely beneficial life experience it offers. Living on your own, financial independence, autonomous learning, a fantastic social life, access to tons of free advice...the list goes on.

But isn’t it possible to have all this experience without going to university, some argued? There are of course other options for young people who have completed A-Levels which can provide similar life experience (and let’s face it less debt) which can often be a better suited to certain individuals. These include apprenticeships, vocational courses and entry level jobs. But another point that seemed to come out of the debate, which I would also agree with, is the fact that the option of university seems to be pushed to young people above all the other options. This was definitely true of my school, and as I pointed out in the debate yesterday, often young people who were very talented in the arts or sports for example were essentially ignored, and made to feel like their talents were not worth as much as academic skills, which of course is not the case.

Personally, I still hold the viewpoint that for me it was definitely worth going to university. As much as some could argue that my degree by itself will not necessarily guarantee me entry into my dream career, I would argue that the experience of university as a whole has made me so much more employable than I when I came out of sixth form, not least because of the confidence I have gained over the past 3 years. Also, without the motivation and guidance of lecturers, the careers service and colleagues, I wouldn’t have had much of a clue of what I wanted to do, or how to go about getting it. I didn’t even know what public relations was before I went to university.

Whilst some participants in the debate argued that it is pointless going to university now because there is no guarantee of a better job or lifestyle after graduation because of the sheer number of graduates and the supposed lack of jobs, this just gives me further motivation to succeed. Because I am aware of the stiff competition out there after graduation, including the thousands who were left in the lurch last year, I have spent my time at university trying to make myself stand out from the crowd. And although I still don’t know what the outcome of my university experience will be, it has already been totally worth it.

Do comment and let me know your thoughts.


Photo caption: Typical hardworking students...

Job done?

I made a decision last year that I would use my final year to purely concentrate on getting a good degree at university. I spent the first two years juggling uni work, part time jobs, internships and general life (as so many students do) but now I feel that my CV is sufficiently meaty enough to mean that I no longer need to bust a gut to add more personal selling points this year.

Perhaps naively though, I hadn’t really anticipated how much time, effort and energy this whole job hunting malarkey was going to suck out of me. From my own desktop research and that of fellow bloggers, it seems that there are very few PR graduate schemes out there, and the majority of these are on the brink of closing. (See Ben Cotton’s v useful post) So I have spent the last few weeks writing, re-writing and polishing my application forms, and believe me some of them are head scratchers!

I am glad I started researching my options at this fairly early stage, as it can be tempting to concentrate fully on dissertations and portfolios and leave the job hunting until afterwards, but by this point the majority of positions are likely to have gone to the keen beans. I expect though, that the majority of entry level PRs will be employed off the back of tailored speculative applications, as many PR consultancies are too small to have a specific graduate trainee scheme, or the budget to advertise for that matter. So researching agencies I would love to work for and making sure they know why I’m perfect for them will be my next mammoth task.

The job application process has also made me realise how important it is to keep a record of your duties and responsibilities on placements and to have an up to date CV, as trying to wrack my brains as to what I did on a 3 month placement 2 years ago would have proved rather difficult.

I will keep you updated as to whether the hours of effort have paid off!

In the mean time, I must get back to writing 400 words on why I’m the perfect candidate, and get my ideas together for my PR campaign to restore the reputation of the city of London...