Don’t Go Mad

Window Shopping

Check out this article in The Times, crikey. Don't go mad!

Old Media Strikes Back... Or Does It?

The MP expenses debacle has got me thinking-- who says newspapers are dead? The Telegraph's sales figures are apparently up some 600,000 copies in the 10 days or so since the story broke. It's also said that traffic to the newspaper's website is up a third as users log on for the latest revelations. I'd imagine the 24 hour TV news channels are also enjoying something of an uplift to their figures as coverage races to keep pace with developments. This is one of the biggest political stories for years and the key revelations have been played out in old media, namely newspaper and television. Sure, lots of people are probably reading all about it on the Telegraph website rather than buying the paper but they are still getting their news fix from a traditional media source, albeit a digitised one. So why is this still the case in the internet age?

• Money Depending on who you believe, the "source" charged 70k - 300k for his/her services -- I can't imagine many organisations other than mainstream media could afford to stump up this amount of cash
• Resources Pureplay internet sites/blogs are still relatively small compared to traditional media organisations, it may even be just one person running the show, rather than a team of journalists tapping up an extensive pooled network of contacts to do follow up work
• Reach/Reputation Of course there are many reputable and highly respected blogs, etc but very few have anything like the reach of traditional media

Three nil to old media then, you might think. The thing is, in a way, traditional media's strengths are also its weaknesses. Because these outlets are traditional they have to follow cycles determined by print deadlines and bulletin times-- the internet doesn't do cycling and conversations about expenses on places like Twitter outpace anything that traditional media can muster. While a newspaper columnist is crafting his/her piece for the next day, a blogger has already voiced various opinions and is engaging with an audience through comments and responses. The realtime web is closing the gap. I think we're at a stage where, yes, a story may break in traditional media but the amplification comes online. Just look at Google trends over the last 30 days on "expenses" to get an idea of how this story has exploded digitally. One of the strengths of the internet is that niche communities form and share ideas-- get enough like-minded people together and these communities become influential enough to pull plenty of punches. Just look at the power of some of the political blogs. Discussions between ordinary people rather than hacks and traditional publishers have been significant in amplifying the story. So has old media struck back with this one? No, it has done what it is traditionally good at. What the internet has shown is that these days we search (and, in some cases, talk) all about a story, just as much as passively "read all about it". Not sure if that point made terribly clearly, perhaps one I'll return to... but, if you'll excuse me, I must get the moat cleared.

Gone in 60 seconds

Actually it probably took under 60 seconds for most people to make up their minds about Dominos after they saw this video: It has been doing the rounds since the start of the week and crossed over into offline breaking news as it topped the "most viral" lists. The stars of the show soon found themselves fired and nicked, and Dominos hastily had to ramp up its online damage-control efforts, one element of which was a video from the boss: I thought this video was a pretty good response and imagine it has gone a long way to helping repair things. It's good that they've tried to respond using the same medium that ultimately hurt them, and tried to engage on other platforms as well. Just slightly odd that he talks off camera (as if to a reporter) -- surely this is a personal address/appeal to customers and should have been straight down the barrel. Anyway, here are my thoughts: It doesn't really matter whether this is a franchise, an isolated incident or an event taking place in the US -- the internet is global and this damages the brand globally. Consumers don't necessarily know or care about the detail. The only thing that matters is you could be sitting 8000 miles away and now never go to Dominos again. Ouch. A picture paints a thousand words. If ever there were an example of how powerful video can be in terms of a reputation story, this most be high up there. Popular conscience. A story like this one around food hygiene is the stuff of legend-- what people fear could go on inside a kitchen being shown as "true". Doesn't really matter if it is a hoax or joke. The perception is that this is what goes on. This kind of stuff inevitably flies online. The power of one. In the old days it would have been much harder for one person (or I guess two people here) to damage a big brand like Dominos so much and so quickly. Nowadays it takes one person with a video camera who probably thought they were having a laugh. Compare with footage of the cops at the G20 protests. So what lessons?

• Monitor the internet proactively to identify issues at an early stage
• Respond quickly using all means available to push the message out. The video started things here but the conversation quickly spread to Twitter and beyond meaning the company had to engage on other platforms as well.
• You can't separate online and offline. This didn't just happen on the internet, it quickly hit the papers and TV as well.
• If you are already involved in online conversations then you have a head start on someone who has to build from scratch. Just as in the offline world it takes time to form relationships with people you want to influence.

It can take a tough lesson to show the internet can be make and break. But it's never too late to start thinking about that digital strategy.

Parking 'The Beast'

Simply brilliant footage caught by the BBC of Obama's driver trying to do a three point turn in Downing Street Parking The Beast

Jump for justice

A picture tells a thousand words. Here's what struck me as a good example-- a judge in the States who literally leaps to the defence of a witness.

RyanScare? Brandjacking or PR?

"I am not sure we care about people pissing themselves in flight. It is a new revenue stream. Most smell like urine anyway." Stumbled upon this on Twitter today, purportedly from Ryanair:

First off, is it real or brandjacking? A site called Travelution claims they've been told by Ryanair that it's for real. In my former life as a journo I would have called Ryanair to find out. I'll leave that for someone else to do on this occasion and we will talk theoretically. If it's real (and I simply don't know at this stage) then is this good digital PR? If this gets people talking and engaging then is it doing its job? Well, the company does have a bit of a reputation for being cheeky and so a controversial approach would be in keeping with that. But if you lay into your customers then are you really doing yourself a favour? So many questions. I guess at the heart of it is the question of engagement. If they (whoever "they" are) create something that people comment on, interact with (in this case "controversial" tweets) and pass on, then it works. If it loses them business then it backfires. (Of course if this is brandjacking they may want to address it.) The antihero isn't a new concept. Maybe it just got an update. (Of course this could all be a windup and nothing to do with Rynair at all.)

Sound familiar?

This video is becoming a fast riser out there in digiland this afternoon. Very clever-- and made me think how increasingly we're treating ads, particularly video ads, as content in their own right to be consumed and shared. Sure, ads have always been a talking point, etc etc, but one of the big lessons of the internet age has been that content alone is now not enough: it's what we do with the content, where we distribute it, who we engage with it, that really makes the message fly. As well as making things easier, the internet has made things a lot more complicated.

Let's do the timewarp

Came across this wonderful 'tool' that the Open University have created in honour of Darwin's 200th birthday. (Happy birthday, Charlie!). 'Devolve Me' allows you to upload your picture and see how you would have looked as an early human. My devolution below, from Don't Go Mad Bond Baddie to, er, Australopithecus afarensis. Seconds of fun for a Friday.

Getting creative

At something like £2m for a 30 second TV spot, SuperBowl ads pull out all the stops. Here are the three I was most impressed by: (With this one, it's the way they cleverly make suggestions about Mercedes, BMW and Lexus) (This is simply brilliant in its no-nonsense approach -- watch for the safety briefing) (You've just got to love the drama of this one, particularly the voice over)

PM forgets to turn his mobile off

This video on the BBC website brought me a Friday smile -- even the Prime Minister forgets to turn his phone off.

Worth watching to the end...