Never mind the Micky Mouse watch, get a Barack Obama one.

Another article I came across recently I thought would be of interest to you, constant reader, is this one by Naomi Klein from Saturday’s Guardian. Naomi, as I like to call her, is the author of the thought-provoking bit of zeitgeist called  No Logo 10 years ago. The book studied how the growth in branding was affecting many elements of our lives and also looked in particular at how big multinationals like Nike and Starbucks had, in effect, become marketing businesses, having outsourced pretty much everything else that they did.

As a PR practitioner, No Logo made for a fascinating if slightly schizophrenic read. On the one hand, I was appalled by some of the corporate sleight-of-brand (ooo, I like that); on the other, there were some great ideas. I particularly recall the beer company that held a series of free rock concerts to promote itself but, in order to ensure maximum coverage for the brand, only released the names of the performers the day before the gig. Genius.

In this new article, Naomi talks about what’s happened in the decade since No Logo was first published. She looks at how branding has thrived and adapted and become subsumed into corporate culture. She also examines how Barack Obama has become the first president to be a superbrand in his own right.

Really worth a read so click here.

Written by Adrian Beeby

Healthy PR as illustrated by The Economist

Fascinating piece in this week’s edition of The Economist examining why public relations has fared well out of the recession and is encroaching on the traditional strongholds of advertising. US spend on advertising contracted 3% and 8% respectively in 2008 and 2009, but in the same years PR spend  grew 4% and 3%.

According to The Economist’s piece, two of the reasons behind this rude health are that PR is cheaper than mass advertising and that, in these price sensitive times, media coverage can be measured and evaluated readily.

But the article also points to PR’s success at moving into the territory of the advertising firms. Simple media relations has given way to more sophisticated PR campaigns based around events, building dialogues and moving online.

Indeed, the growth of online communication and social media is, the article argues, another plus point for PR as it has been the communication discipline most able to adapt to deal with the online forums, blogs and video sharing platforms. The ease with which online traffic and related data can be captured and evaluated also helps.

Finally, a warning:  public relations is often so successful are launching what appear to be independent campaigns and causes that regulators are beginning to take note. The article cites the case of the US Federal Trade Commission which has published new guidelines for bloggers requiring them to disclose whether they have received payment for writing about particular products or services.

All in all, a heart-warming story of communications facing up to the economic and technological challenges of the new world order. Y’know there’s nothing like a bit of good PR…

Read the article from The Economist here.

Written by Adrian Beeby

As some of those who know me are probably only too aware, my entire career in media relations has been spent with one key objective in mind: to stamp out photographs of giant cheques – or giant checks if you’re configured for American spelling.

“Giant cheque?” I hear you say. “What on earth does he mean?”

Well, gentle reader, I mean the numerous photographs of giant cheques that appear, all too frequently, in local newspapers and the odd trade magazine and are, to be honest, the bane of the photo editor’s life. In short, the giant cheque picture is the low water mark of news photography. It is the lowest common denominator of the lowest kind; it is the cliche of cliches, the Jedward of popular journalism, the death of the imagination.

Nothing demeans an organisation more, or scuppers its PR reputation so quickly, as sending a picture of the MD and Shona from accounts and the local MP holding some swollen NatWest cheque made out for just over one thousand quid to the local dogs’ home. It’s not the dogs – the good cause – I’m complaining about you understand; it’s the lack of creativity and professionalism on the part of the press officer which prompted him or her to suggest: “What about a picture of a giant cheque?”

There are hundreds of ways of illustrating charity donation stories, so why o why is giant cheque the default image? See my gallery below and weep. And if you’ve any other examples of this type of depraved photo you’d like to highlight, drop me a line.

So how did the dog raise the money? Or is it a cow?

Some very tall people (apparently)

This cheque is a hard hat zone

Thinks: Why me? Why me?

Formation cheque dancing

Written by Adrian Beeby

Issue date: 8 January 2010 – Insurance PR and marketing agency FWD today announced it is creating a new specialist PR team to focus on the asset management and personal finance sectors.

New hires Victoria Sisson and Alexandra Thompson will lead the agency’s growth drive.

Victoria Sisson has been appointed PR Director and joins from insurer QBE having spent over 16 years with a variety of financial services brands including asset manager Investec. She was also formerly marketing manager for Getty Images.

Alexandra Thompson has been appointed PR Consultant joins from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) where she worked closely with the financial adviser arm, the Personal Finance Society. She has experience of both insurance and financial services PR.

The pair have over 25 years’ experience between them of asset management, personal finance, mortgages, capital markets, insurance and reinsurance. Reporting to Adrian Beeby, Head of Media Relations, the duo are tasked with building FWD’s client roster outside of general insurance, the sector FWD launched into. The agency has the largest number of insurance-related clients of any UK PR and marketing agency.

FWD founder and Managing Director Michael Gaughan, commented: “Since our launch in 2000, we have successfully carved out a well-founded niche for ourselves in the insurance sector and we now see tremendous opportunities to duplicate this success within financial services.”

“The new team are well-placed to deliver that success for the business. Victoria was recently voted one of the ‘Top 100 PR contacts in the City’ by journalists, while Alexandra brings in-depth understanding of broader financial services which will help support our new direction. In fact we have already celebrated our first significant non-insurance new business wins following their arrival and we look forward to announcing these, as well as further successes, over the coming year.”

For further information, please contact:

Adrian Beeby,
Head of Media Relations, FWD

T  020 7623 2368
M 07879 403564
E   adrian.beeby@fwdmarketing.co.uk

Written by Craig Freeman

FWD has provided clients with digital services for a number of years: recent projects have included a new website for Premium Credit ( www.premium-credit.co.uk). It’s taken us a while but we’ve finally launched a bespoke website covering all the digital services offered by the group.  You can see it at www.fwddigital.com.

Digital is a diverse and fast-moving environment.  A dedicated website and blog will allow us to keep clients and those who are interested up to date with developments and how FWD Digital can help businesses achieve their online potential. Our blog aims to provide ideas and insight into social media, blogging, search engine optimisation and web design.

Our latest post is here: ‘Where to start with social media’ and you can subscribe to the full blog by following this link: Subscribe to fwddigital.com by Email

We hope our site will help marketeers and CEOs alike understand how their business, whether it’s a consumer-facing or B2B brand, can use its website combined with tools such as search engine optimisation, social media marketing and site analytics to achieve a range of communication and business development goals.

The FWD Digital website can be found at www.fwddigital.com. Please feel free to contact either James or Craig through the site here: Contact us.

Written by Craig Freeman

"Right, the kids will never find me here!"

Ok, so we’re just a few days into 2010 and the Big Freeze has turned vast swathes of the British workforce into a hybrid of a home worker and an Inuit. Driving on any minor road is like doing Torville and Dean’s Bolero routine; the trains are barely moving and walking has become about as easy as inline skating. So, millions of us – particularly those like my good self who live in a small village – have abandoned the commute and plumped for home working while the thermometer hovers around zero. So far, so good…but then the really bad news happened. They shut the schools!

Closed schools mean loose, bored children, and loose, bored children are the anathema of productivity. There’s also the additional problem in dual income households of spouses competing to get onto the PC to check their emails and do some work.

So with all this in mind, and the Big Freeze set to continue, here are the FWD team’s top tips for staying productive while trapped at home.

1.       Turn up the heating in your house as high as you can bear: it will induce torpor in the kids and let you get on with that press release you’re trying to write.

2.       Suggest the kids take a bath – about five times a day. That will kill three hours!

3.       As part of their home learning, teach your eldest how to draft a basic PR plan – and then set them to work.

4.       Fix a stout lock on the inside of your home office door; go inside and bolt it.

5.       Make a thermos and coffee and some sandwiches; then take them into the home office with you so you don’t have to come out again.

6.       Find an elderly neighbour who loves children; then send yours round for a visit.

7.       If you work at home on a laptop, combine your work with a game of hide and seek. You and your laptop climb inside a wardrobe and work there while the kids tear the rest of the house apart.

8.       If your local pub or coffee shop has a wireless network, take up semi-permanent residence there.

9.       Work before the kids are up and after they’re in bed. You’ll miss Holby City but, hey, that’s a bonus in my book.

10.   Play loud 70s rock music in your office or punk. It is to children what garlic is to vampires.

11.   Use your children as a market research focus group: “Tell me, kids, which CBeebies character would benefit most from Directors and Officers cover?” (Answer:  Big Cook. Potential risks of running a cafe and shareholder disputes with Little Cook.)

Good luck fighting your way through the rest of the Big Freeze.  And if you phone me and hear high pitched screaming in the background, you know that damned village school’s still closed!

Written by Adrian Beeby