Monthly Archives: December 2008

Digital PR and Marketing communications in 2009

We already are equipped with the most robust and least expensive toolset for communications that the world has ever seen. We possess massive distribution networks with tiny transmission costs. We are our own authors, publishers, printers and distributors.

Why do we seem wary of this new medium? Because resources don’t follow distribution in the obvious way as it did with the other media (radio, TV, films, outdoor). But maybe that’s not where we need to make an immediate margin?

Best Christmas TV ads ever

I spend the run up to Christmas preaching to my kids about how over-commercialised Christmas has become, then spend Christmas stuffing my face with chocolate and playing video games with them.
So this year I didn’t bother getting on my over-commercialised high horse and unashamedley compiled a list of my top ten Christmas TV ads of all time. If [...]

Learning from the Santa brand

A lot has been said about the need for brands communicating online to shift from a mindset of control to one that’s a little more relaxed and open and engaging from a customer perspective. Smarter companies are ceding a degree of control of their brands to the public and, in doing so, are building communities [...]

Social media and Digital PR growing in popularity

Last night, I gave a short presentation to a CIDS meeting in Stockport, Greater Manchester, UK, on social media management. As an experiment, I asked the audience of 50 smaller businesses and advisors to stand up and, as I called out various social media platforms and they confirmed that they had registered an account, they [...]

Plugging the digital divide

Public sector communicators have been following the digital divide debate with interest. Whilst most are convinced of the need for digital communications with their stakeholders some are concerned about those excluded from 21st century means of access to information.
In a recent interview Paul Murphy, MP, minister for digital inclusion commented on the Oxford Internet Association’s [...]

The relationship between Digital PR Social Networks and Brands in the 21st century.

If you run an online business or trade in areas where you have no physical shops, factories or salespeople, then a strong online branding campaign will be an essential part of your marketing toolkit. Real customer loyalty and success online will only be achieved if your brand becomes influential and respected.
Traditional marketers will tell you [...]

Digital dialogue with staff and council taxpayers

The Prime Minister’s Office ePetitions system is a standard-bearer for government-stakeholder communications. By the end of 2007, petitions attracted nearly 5.5 million signatures, from nearly 3.7 million different email addresses. During the peak times of the biggest petition (which attracted 1.8m signatures) the site was servicing up to 150 transactions per second.
As far as local [...]