The Brits get social

So I have just been watching The Brits and I loved their all new idea of getting people to vote for one of the categories through social media platform, Twitter.

James Cordon hosted the event and at the beginning of the night introduced this new way of voting. The category was Best British Video. This included names such as One Direction, Ellie Goulding, Calvin Harris, Naughty Boy and John Newman.

People were given hashtags to use to vote via twitter. An example of one of the hashtags was #BRITsOneDirection. Viewers of the show could vote throughout and this was the last award to be given of the night one all the votes and data had been counted.

It was called 'the social vote' and it created a new element to engaging with the audiences at home without them having to pick up the phone and pay.

This tactic worked really well and there was so many votes on Twitter that it will be interesting to see how this tactic will be adopted in further shows to increase engagement with the 'at-home audience' and online community.

The winners of this award were One Direction.

 

Reputation... two sides to the story

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.

Selfridges - no noise campaign

Selfridges no noise campaign video

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!