When Tangerine Confectionery asked us to support their new TV ad campaign for Butterkist using our PR expertise, we simply couldn’t resist!

The ad, which features the catchy ‘I Can’t Resist Butterkist’ theme tune, showcases the daily situations in which we find ourselves eating popcorn, such as when we watch films, travel on the bus, or even when we’re relaxing in the bath!

The running theme was that ’Butterkist is irresistible’, so to give the campaign a human angle, we surveyed 4,000 Brits to reveal what they find irresistible about each other. This gave our media relations activity a fun news hook which was strongly aligned with the campaign’s focus.

Surprisingly (or perhaps not), we found a definite gender divide. It seems that women go for a dashing smile and a good sense of humour, whereas men find a good body and great ‘assets’ irresistible.

The story captured the imagination of the national media as we secured fantastic coverage in the Daily Express and Metro Online, as well as getting Eamon Holmes and Ruth Langsford chatting about it on ITV1’s This Morning (Fri 5^th Feb). Hoorah!

To keep the momentum going, Butterkist is offering its web visitors the chance to win a whole bathtub of ‘the nation’s number one popcorn’ in exchange for posts about what they find irresistible. So, if you fancy adding to our campaign’s success and sharing what makes you weak at the knees, then by all means join the conversation. Come on, we know you won’t be able to resist!

Posted by Gemma W

Social Media Week (#smw) is in full swing and some interesting and insightful blog posts have appeared on its site. One of these is by Dani Klein (@YeahThatsKosher) – a guest blogger who has taken snippets of information and video content from PR professionals in order to understand their role within social media, all of which is aggregated under the #SMPR tag (for those who want to follow the thread).

We all know that the opportunities for PR are wide reaching and the emergence of digital/online PR has made it even more so. It’s a very exciting time yet one quote particularly stood out for me from Keith Trivit, an AE at a NY PR agency who said “Social Media takes time, work, and effort to implement; Clients want to jump right into Social Media … important to slow things down”. I couldn’t agree more – you need to take a step back from the fast-paced nature of Social Media (initially!) and go back to the brand/campaign objectives.

The CIPR defines Social Media as ‘an evolving area of PR practice and its profile continues to grow’, which is very exciting and will mean that brands are interested in dipping their toe in Social Media – fantastic, but take it slow to start off with. It’s very much in a PR’s nature to approach things with caution, to always be one step ahead and thinking about how actions (posts, responses, tweets) can and will be perceived. This is something that’s drilled into us from day one, so although Social Media is very exciting, it’s worth getting a PR viewpoint before jumping head first into it. That way you can find out what we think is achievable, how it should be approached, and how to prepare for two-way engagement….then you can start. Need I remind you about what happened to Habitat or Neal’s Yard Remedies? I think you get the picture J.

Posted by Charlotte Brophy

Social Media Starfish. Image courtesy of DBarefoot (Robert Scoble)

From PR to digital marketing and all that’s in-between – I would like to introduce myself to the online world as a newly converted technophile. The ever-changing dynamic of the ‘www’ never ceases to surprise and intrigue me – the ‘what’s next’ factor is definitely keeping me on the edge of my swivel chair. And that’s exactly what I love about it.

I’ve recently noted that incomprehensible dots and shapes are bizarrely the latest marketing tool advocated by not just key players in the retail sphere from where it originated – Japan (such as Puma Japan), but by music artists (e.g. the Pet Shop Boys), and the film industry on an international scale. It was recently used to promote the DVD release of 28 Weeks Later in London, and the latest James Bond: Quantum of Solace in Australia.

The dots and shapes I’m referring to are barcodes. The barcode concept has been jolted into the 21st Century as they are no longer being used to merely differentiate products and prices at the supermarket check-out – but to also store information on a brand, promotion, person – you name it! Once the barcode (‘2-D’ or ‘QR’ code, DataMatrix and Microsoft Tag) has been ‘snapped’ on a software-enabled camera phone, it links to digital content that can be viewed via a mobile phone’s internet browser – genius!

Umbro did a world-first early last year by placing a QR (Quick Response) code on the care label of their new England away kit. Once ‘snapped’, this led over 50,000 England fans to an exclusively accessible, mobile site - created by our very own digital division, Swamp @ Brahm.

It’s this new technology coupled with an increased demand from people to be informed and entertained that has led to many brands in the UK jumping on the band wagon.

For the first time, Pepsi will see a big PR push of the QR technology into Britain after recently unveiling its plans to print over 400 million barcodes on its products. The barcode will hyperlink consumers to websites, games, competitions etc. in an attempt to interact with target audiences. Since the announcement, the Times Online recognised that City AM (free financial newspaper) and Yell (Yellow pages) are also set to entice British consumers in such a way.

This trend cements the notion that mobile phones are being viewed as an integral platform to view information and content by consumers about, well, anything.

It’s common knowledge that third-party generated content is seen to be more credible than that generated by the brand itself as it’s deemed more objective – however, self-published content still has an integral role to play especially when it comes to informing consumers.  But, it goes without saying that perceptions held – particularly in today’s ‘search and share’ society that no matter how positive or negative they may be, they can be helped or hindered by what third-parties are saying.

Although it seems that the purpose of companies embracing this new technology is for brands to interact and engage with its consumers in a new and exciting way, as a PR it raises the question – is there an opportunity for me to use this communication method by way of reputation management? This is something I’m currently exploring for a couple of clients – watch this space!

Posted by Charlotte Brophy