This blog looks at current and interesting topics in PR. I am currently a 2nd year student at the University of Greenwich studying BA Public Relations and Communications.
Jamie Jones posted a letter on Twitter that he claimed came from car dealership website WeBuyAnyCar.com.
In the letter, they ‘reached the conclusion that you sent your request to simply waste our time’. He had tried to sell them a Little Tikes play car for children.
It received over 28,000 retweets in a day and was widely shared across social media, being picked up by sites like the Mirror. However, the letter was exposed as fake, with the Twitter user that posted it doubling his followers in the fallout of the stunt.
However, the condescending tone of the fake letter posed a PR challenge for WeBuyAnyCar.com. Yet how they dealt with the situation was amazing. They turned criticism around with some humorous responses.
Keek, a new and exciting video blog app for my iPhone. I love watching 40 second clips of people and think it has great potential. Lots of so called celebrities are already using this new craze.
I have found a great example of a member of the "Geordie Shore" cast used the app.
Gary Beadle recognised his target market and their interests and used keek to make video updates in the shower. His fanbase have gone crazy and he is maintaing his image at the same time. He has definitely thought about who he wants to attract and people just can't seem to get enough. This was a brilliant use of social media and understanding his stakeholders.
I am in LOVE with everything disney and recently treated my partner for his birthday a trip to disneyland paris.
This got me thinking about PR campaigns run by disneyland paris. Recently with the recession Disneyland Paris hired BETC Euro RSCGto regain custom.
So they decided to get people to film telling their children they are going to disneyland paris and upload it and Disney then used this in their advertising campaigns under "The Magic Begins the Moment You Tell Them."
However, the videos are on youtube and the coverage on social media websites has been phenomenal. So I thought I would post some of the best ones I have found.
My magic definitely began when I told him as we are both so excited and with just over a week to go I am already packing.
Justin Bieber recently came to the UK and caused quite a stir. but has his reputation remained in tact from the incidents.
Day 1 - He was 2 hours late on for his first show at the o2 arena
Day 2 - He falls ill on stage and goes off stage.
Day 3 - Altercation with the press (video below) and cancels an interview
Then has the cheek to say he does not deserve all this "negative press"and will "not return to the UK". So how is his reputation? I know my view of Justin Bieber has deteriorated and what will it take to recover his image.
Crisis Management? This might take a long time for the recovery of Justin Bieber. What is Justin Bieber's take on the situation?
The press have certainly had a great time whilst he has been in the country.
David Beckham surprised fans for Team GB.
Rita Ora for Mastercard.
Rihanna for River Island.
The celebrities seem to have taken a new turn and decide to surprise their fans. These stunts have had a phenomenal success. The stunts have been successful due to the human interest that they gain, social media coverage and videos of the stunts going viral.
What celebrities would you like to be surprised by?
What other companies will use this method?
Outside the Chelsea Football Club Stadium (Stamford Bridge) the 'bookies' Paddy Power have recently placed a billboard. On the billboard it says "FERNANDO. We’ve got an onion bag you can actually find. It’s in the burger van mate. Get your hair net on". This was an addition to the many jokes about Fernando Torres who has had a poor performance since joining the club after a £50 million deal. Apparently, according to the Daily Mail Chelsea have now started legal action against Paddy Power. The amount of coverage on social media this picture has received has made it good PR for Paddy Power but for Chelsea is this good PR? Is this a good use of advertising or is Chelsea right with not seeing the funny side?
With london fashion week around the corner designer Anya Hindmarch has created a new website to find your anyagram. it says you can fashion a new identity for yourself to tie in with LFW. I used my name to complete the website and have posted the picture below of the anyagrams for my name. The website has brought fun and excitement to everyone, even those who do not care about fashion. So how will be you be using your anyagram? http://anyagrams.com/
After the brits on Wednesday night Dulux decided to jump on the hype and tweeted about the use of colours Damien Hurst used on his version of the brit award. This was brilliantly implemented and reinforced ideas of Dulux's image they portray. The company have looked at current trends and used these to their advantage as to what to focus. Although not much notice was taken in Dulux's tweet it has identified that they are current and how important it is to have this quality in the world of PR.
I just came across this lovely idea for introducing new Public Relations students to Leeds Met University. The students used Twitter to demonstrate the power of social media. The campaign was called #tweetnotspeak. They had to use twitter and the hashtag to communiate in the class rather than talking to each other. Maybe the University of Greenwich will adopt this hands on and creative approach when looking at social media as I know I would have loved an activity like this in lectures.
Recently I went to London with my family and noticed that Selfridge's had started their no noise campaign. They say the aim is to 'celebrate the power of quiet, see the beauty in function and find calming among the crowds'.
I loved this stunt/campaign. The use of so many different public relations elements worked well together. Part of the campaign involved de-branding products such as Heinz baked beans and ketchup to beats by Dr Dre. Not only does this provide publicity for Selfridges but also for all the brands invovled.
The whole campaign intrigued me to think about how powerful branding can be for a consumer and the persuasion and influence it has on consumer choices. Although not all of the branding was completely removed the names were and does this alone create even more of a want by consumers as it will become a 'collectible item' or will the de branding have no affect?
As part of the campaign headspace pods were set up around the shop along with a silence room. This aimed at recreating the idea which Harry Selfridge created in 1909 when the shop first opened. How effective will this be for customers and the business. I loved this idea and creativity of creating not only a normal shopping experience but an original and relaxing shopping experience where consumers feel at ease and can consider buying choices.
I definitely think that January has been Selfridges month with TV programmes and this extraordiary campaign. Generally business' suffer with bad takings in January it will be intersting to see how this PR campaign will affect business for the competition and Selfridges!
