Tag: marketing

What you really achieve during a 16-hour working day

Posted on January 12, 2017 by

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It seems to have become a bit of a trend over recent years, where people make a point of letting you know just how many hours they have worked. It’s no longer considered acceptable to get into the office at 9am and work to 5.30pm, if you don’t work until your mind is whirring and your eyes are burning you simply aren’t committed.

I have to admit that before the Christmas break I had got into the habit of coming into the office at 7.30am and working through to around 6pm every day, thinking that this was reflective of my desire to do a good job for my clients. WRONG!

Most of my clients were still in bed, and although I do still get into the office earlier than my contracted 9am start, it is for the right reasons – usually to read the news and to prioritise my tasks for the day ahead.

While reading the i today I came across a really interesting article written by Katie Law, which further reinforced my fear that working longer hours doesn’t necessarily make you more productive. In fact, quite the opposite.

The piece, titled ‘How to do a full day’s work in only four hours’ (no surprises for why it caught my attention) places the emphasis on efficiency as opposed to the hours that we spend doing stuff. The main message, which was taken from Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, a 52-year old former Silicon Valley consultant and lifestyle expert, was that most people can only focus for four hours each day.

If that’ the case, why are we trying to drag this out to eight or more and commending people for it? Basically, we are rewarding inefficiency or at least giving someone who should be recruiting the kudos to believe they are super-human.

In order to be as effective as you can be, the idea is that you work to your limits and that we try to change the mindset that we have all created; longer and longer hours translates to commitment and results.

What started as a desire to do well suddenly manifests itself as a route to ill-health, tiredness, inefficiency and resentment.

But, here’s the good news, there are ways to change. The tips from the article are as follows:

1.       Four hours focus

Focus on tasks and don’t be distracted by emails, voicemails or unnecessary meetings.  Interestingly, it suggests Smartphones should be turned off at least two-nights a week.

2.       Curse of the open-plan office

We have an open plan office, and whereas it definitely has its benefits, the article makes a good point – it’s a honey pot of distractions. The recommendation is to use headphones to cancel out the noise and chatter or go back to individual offices *gasp*.

3.       Break-out areas are bad

Although breaks are confirmed as being a good thing, the idea of having a break-out area doesn’t serve its purpose. Rather than giving people the time to refocus, the article says that all they do is keep people in the office for longer.

4.       Keep meetings short

Pang says that meetings should never be longer than 40 minutes and any devices should be banned! I could marry this man. One thing that irks me above all others is people taking phones or laptops into meetings. It’s rude. As far as I’m concerned, we should go into a meeting, get to the point, create a plan, assign actions and get on with it. Perfect.

5.       Routine is critical

Probably my favourite of them all, and not easily achieved in PR, but routine keeps the mind focused and allows someone to be more organised. Needless to say, this means that you also use your time more wisely.

6.       Take a nap

I love this idea but it’s totally impractical. Apparently, companies including Google have nap pods and encourage employees to take 20-minute shut-eye every six hours. Bonkers, but hey, you can’t fault a multi-million corporation for trying something different. I’m all for a bit of disruption – in fact, I might go for a lie down. Zzzzzzz…

7.       Stop working mid-sentence

Finally, neuroscientists have found that when people stop working on something knowing that they will go back to it, their subconscious keeps processing it. As such, the idea is to embrace this and ‘zone out’. Let your mind do the work for you.

Although I don’t agree with all of the points made by Pang, I am going to try and put more routine into the way I work and to stop believing that working 16-hour days makes me a better and more productive person.

The truth is that no one will thank me, least of all the husband that I never see.

Editorial and advertising: perfect bedfellows or simply getting too close for comfort?

Posted on January 3, 2017 by

Pondering the world of PR and all that it encompasses.

Pondering the world of PR and all that it encompasses.

Obligatory start to all communications this week, Happy New Year to one and all! We hope that you had a well-deserved break and have come back refreshed, albeit a little on the plump side. I certainly have

So, as we embark on another year ahead what are the challenges that you will face? Have you even considered what is around the corner? Or are you still debating whether it’s appropriate to eat those left-over mince pies and to wash them down with sherry or a last glass of fizz?

Anyway, enough about my overindulgence, it’s irrelevant – we are back to it now and so my ponderings for 2017 begin.

Before Christmas, I noticed a shift in the way that an online regional title was reporting news.

Rather than simply sharing updates, as they had done for several years, they instead offered the chance for people to upload their own content for a fee. This is nothing new, it has been done before and as a PR agency we would consider it advertorial.

The reason for this is that those submitting news can write – within reason – whatever they like and share it on the platform as long as they pay to do so. So far, so good. However, what made this approach rather ‘unique’, and I believe added some intrigue, was that the platform made it clear that they would choose the best three articles to feature on their daily bulletin.

The reason I find this so fascinating is that it really does blur the lines between what constitutes advertising and editorial. In the first instance it is advertorial, as the person has paid for the piece to feature as they have written it, but in the second it becomes editorial, as a journalist has shared it with a wider audience alongside content that has not been paid for. Now to clarify, you can quite easily see the bylined author of each article so can still see which have been paid for but it’s a fine line.

I have conflicting thoughts about this; commercially I have to admit that it is a step forward and I also think there are many online titles that will follow, but what is unnerving is that people already find the relationship between advertising and editorial a challenge and I fear this will make it worse.

People will believe that to work in PR you write copy and upload it for a fee, which isn’t the case. What we do here at Open Communications is to draft good quality copy that is then sent to a journalist for them to decide whether to share it with their audience or otherwise.

I’ve been a follower of this particular news feed for a number of years now and am certainly keen to see if this approach evolves – or doesn’t, depending presumably on its popularity and ability to become an additional income stream.

I’m always interested to see how publications change the way that they work while maintaining the integrity of the editorial they share, so again, this will be one to watch.
Another shift in the wonderful world of PR and communications – there’s never a dull day.

Wishing you all the very best for 2017. We will be sharing our thoughts and opinions about subjects that are relevant to PR, marketing, communications and life in general. Remember to come back for updates and of course, feel free to add your own thoughts too.

AWARDS; GLORY HUNTING OR THE RECOGNITION YOU DESERVE

Posted on November 16, 2016 by

Whatever industry you work in there will be an awards ceremony that celebrates the success of the great and good in your sector. The same can be said for PR and I am really pleased to announce that Open Communications has been shortlisted for the Not For Profit category at the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire PRide Awards.

The awards take place tomorrow (Thursday 17 November) evening at The Queen’s Hotel in Leeds and will bring together hundreds of people from businesses and agencies throughout the two regions.

It has taken us eight years to enter the awards, not because we didn’t feel that our work was of a standard to be recognised but because, if we’re honest, we’ve spent more time submitting and winning awards for our clients.

It was only during a meeting earlier in the year that a client asked why we don’t practice what we preach, and I realised that actually awards for our own work should be as important as those of the brands that we work with.

So, what was stopping us?

Well, to be honest, we’ve never really felt that we needed awards to prove that we could do a good job – the evidence is in the results that we achieve. Then there was the fact that some awards make you feel like you’re simply glory hunting and again this isn’t really our style.

But, when it comes down to it awards do give a credibility by association and you have to be in them to win them! So, is it glory hunting or are you simply getting the recognition you deserve for the results you work so hard to achieve.

It wasn’t difficult to come up with a conclusive answer and so, we put pen to paper.

The challenge then was what to submit? We are very proud of the work that we produce and the results that we get for our clients so it was a difficult choice. We decided that we would focus on the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, the only organisation dedicated to former mining towns and villages throughout the country.

We have worked alongside the team at the Coalfields Regeneration Trust for more than 2 years now and have secured hundreds of pieces of coverage, which in turn has communicated with millions of people throughout the UK.

The results are consistently strong and as a result of our work communications is very much an agenda point around the board room table. We’ve even been invited to share our work with the trustees – which is a real achievement.

We have worked with the team to develop a tone of voice, aligned their messaging and revised their three-year strategy. We have also shaped their brand and vision for the future and changed the way that they communicate with different audiences to make sure they get the return on investment both from us and their own efforts.

Although we are confident with the results we have achieved, leading the organisation most recently to secure a Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Award (2016), we know that it can go either way.

We have everything crossed and know that even if we don’t win, we have done a fantastic job and will continue to deliver for the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, evolving the way that they communicate to make sure as many people as possible understand what they are trying to achieve.

That said, we’ve cleared a space on our shelf (just in case) and hope to be updating the blog with pictures of Open Communications as we pick up our very first PRide award.

Wish us luck!

OPEN CLEAN UP WITH ASTONISH(ING) WIN

Posted on November 21, 2014 by

11.10.14 Astonish 2

Ok, we know the headline is a little cheesy but you can’t blame us with such exciting news to share. Believe me, corks would be popping if we were your typical champagne quaffing agency… but then we’d get nothing done, so we’ll keep it to a blog and a few cheeky team drinks.

So, back to business, we are really excited to announce that here at Open Communications we have added a further client to our extensive portfolio following our appointment as preferred lead PR and marketing communications agency for Astonish, the UK top ten cleaning brand.

We will be working with another local team, Statement, to devise and implement an annual communications and social media plan for the business focusing on engagement, reach and penetration into households throughout the country. Creative is well underway for a series of campaigns that will uplift activity throughout the next twelve months with the objective to raise the profile of the brand and reinforce its strong heritage and cruelty free credentials, along with its value for money and quality proposition.

We are always keen to share our news – it would be strange for a PR agency not to – and more so the feedback from our clients.

Head of Marketing for Astonish Cleaning Products, Katy Clark said: “We have big plans for Astonish over the next twelve months and beyond; as a result we wanted to work with agencies that would share our passion for our product range. We have some great news and exciting plans to share and we know that Open Comms and Statement will assist us in doing just that.”

Astonish is a successful, ambitious and growing brand. As a British manufacturer with a rich heritage we are very excited to be working with the team to meet with their objectives. Astonish is a great addition to our growing portfolio of clients that require a full PR programme of activity to cover consumer, trade, corporate and social media support. It’s great to see that once again our straight talking, realistic approach to the brief meant that we could hit the ground running and get to work.

Plans are underway for the launch of the first creative campaign for the brand, which will focus on its success to date and will rely on social media, managed content, corporate, consumer and trade PR activity. Watch this space, there is lots of exciting news to share from Astonish and we hope to do a sparkling job for them! Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Why guidelines can be a lifeline

Posted on August 7, 2014 by

It never fails to amuse me when people say that they have all of their marketing under control and whip out a document with ‘BRAND GUIDELINES’ proudly displayed across the front. What people don’t seem to appreciate is that even though having brand guidelines is a good starting point, it does not always take into account the bigger picture.

As an example, if someone picks up your brand guidelines document it is likely to explain how your logo or strap line should be displayed. It is not however as likely to go into the detail about the tone of voice you should use when communicating about your brand or the factors you should take into account when using social media.

You see, brand guidelines are one thing but communications guidelines are quite another. The two do and should work hand-in-hand but very rarely are they proudly displayed together.

I recently hosted a strategy session with a local artistic contemporary photographer – Nigel Tooby – who is building his brand. In addition to understanding the importance and significance of how he projects his image, he was also more than aware of the need to develop his communications strategy.

I was pleased that as a creative, Nigel had taken the time to consider how he communicates effectively with his audiences. Many companies and even big businesses and corporations focus on their branding but not on their marketing communications.

A communications strategy should support the business objectives, making it a fundamental part of a company’s growth potential. Taking the time to consider the personality of your business, the tone of voice you use, a positioning statement and longer term aspirations and goals can be the difference between success and so, so.

I’m not sure whether this business has gone through a communications strategy session or if they have specific guidelines for their engagement but Yorkshire Tea do a great job of reinforcing their personality in all that they do. As well as being consistent across mediums, they are also friendly and funny (which is not easy!).

There are lots of other brands who get it right but many that seem to neglect their marketing communications in favour of ‘bigger things’ that command significantly higher budgets. I find it endlessly infuriating that the foundations of a company are discarded due to cost – we can all put our prices up but as specialists we also deliver a professional service and this should be recognised.

My advice would be to start with the basics. Get your positioning and messaging right and then everything else will follow – don’t skip to the branding because you think it’s more exciting; all that happens is that your audience will see a disconnect between the image your project and the personality you portray and that certainly won’t give you the return on investment you’re looking for.

3D printing, coming to a home near you

Posted on July 10, 2013 by

 

For those of you who read my blog about the Buy Yorkshire Conferenceyou will know that some of the evolutionary technologies discussed at the event really got me thinking about the future, and in particular about the many opportunities for innovation that will be created by 3D printing.

The thoughts from the event were that although these technologies, including 3D print, were great, they were still some way off being given approval for general release, so you will understand my excitement when I find that as reported in The Drum yesterday, Maplin have launched a machine known as the K8200 kit that can be purchased by the general public.

Now, in most instances this is the point where we have to take a step back and remember that although it is available that doesn’t mean that it is affordable however Maplin have said that the machine takes up to 10 hours to construct, which in turns lowers its cost, and can create any plastic model within 30 minutes, fitting to its scale of 20cm3. The idea over time is that children will be playing with this rather than computer games!

Never mind the children, what about agencies? Doesn’t this present the opportunity to be even more creative and to make scale model products to show the client rather than presenting pretty pictures? I’m not sure how realistic this is but it’s got to get you thinking, right?

How exciting would it be to show off your 3D printer by creating unique products for a campaign. I wonder how long it will be before we move on from ‘printing’ with plastic and start to use other materials. Could you 3D print something that was edible on a mass scale for example – now that would be impressive.

It will be interesting to see how many people make the purchase and if the company’s theories are correct. I know what I would be putting on my Christmas list if I had one.

 

Can interactive print really deliver?

Posted on July 9, 2013 by

 

Working with a print and document management company and an international print manager we are always looking for examples of best practice when it comes to direct mail or marketing materials. Not only do we look for good quality imagery and interesting formats but also pieces that go above and beyond to really capture the attention of the audience.

 

Interactive print is a bit of a buzz word within the industry at the moment, with lots of companies recognising the need to integrate digital and print together in order to create the necessary impact, which will encourage the recipient to open the piece and most importantly read it.

 

As QR codes and now AR codes and blippar, plus other apps, become second nature with agencies and consumers it goes without saying that they need to be considered when brands are planning their next marketing campaign, launch or project.

 

What has changed recently is clients attitudes towards apps; long gone are the days where we can test and measure an idea, now is the time that these things have to deliver a return on investment just like everything else. Pretty pictures are all well and good but if your exploding fruit or branded game doesn’t encourage purchase then you have to question what the point was – did it meet with objectives? Probably not.

 

I was really surprised recently when my brother gave me what looked like a hard backed booklet from Auto Trader. He works within this industry and often comments that he receives lots of promotional emails that he just simply doesn’t get chance (nor has the desire) to open and read.

 

As an advertiser with Auto Trader magazine my brother had received this particular piece and thought that it was quite impressive and I have to agree, it is. The concept is simple, it’s a direct mail piece which says ‘Your buyers are online, are you…..?’. When you open the piece there is an image of a smart phone which suddenly comes to life and plays a video showing the benefits to advertising in Auto Trader along with a timeline of how the business has changed over the years.

 

What Auto Trader have managed to do with this piece is to create intrigue, harness interest and engage with the end user, a prospect and a customer, better still they have encouraged both myself and my brother to share the piece and tell others about it, further extending the audience reach.

 

This piece is a real example of how print and digital can work together to make a communication stronger. There is absolutely no way that I would have looked twice at this if it hadn’t been so well executed.

 

I have included a short video of how the piece works as I honestly do think that many marketing agencies could take some learnings from the simple concept through to delivery of this piece.

 

Please do share your own examples of excellent direct marketing and mail campaigns with us. Can anyone top this quirky campaign or have you even seen better examples that you can showcase?

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Have you got the power?

Posted on July 5, 2013 by

It doesn’t matter whether you are the very best widget seller in the world, or that you can make 100 cold calls an hour, if you haven’t got the power then your business simply won’t work. So what is the power? Well, in simple terms it is your reputation.

 

When you think about it PR and marketing aren’t rocket science but what they are is powerful tools that can take your business from good to great. We often speak to businesses who say that they haven’t got the time to manage their communications because they are too busy doing the day job.

 

Thankfully our clients are able to rely on us to make sure that people know all about them and the products and services they offer but what about the others?

 

If you take a step back and think about the purpose of effective business communications – whether digital, written or spoken – the idea is that you give people the information that they need to form an impression. What you need to make sure is that this is the right impression and that you appeal to prospects. In order to do that the fundamental requirement is to be liked.

 

Having a great service is just the start when you work in any organisation what’s more important is that you get on with your clients and you take the time to communicate with them and share your innovations, ideas and successes. Pass them the power.

 

People don’t come knocking on your door just because – they need that push to do so. PR allows a business to manage its reputation, which is questionably the most important asset of any company of any size.

 

As an example if you are scared of flying, as I am, then you wouldn’t be comfortable booking a flight with an airline you had never heard of but if you have seen and even engaged with a brand that you have chosen to soar through the skies at 37,000 feet with you feel more comfortable. The truth is that these businesses invest in PR and marketing, which in turn leads to credibility and trust that means people are more likely to book with them as opposed to an alternative.

 

This principle can be applied to any business of any size.   

 

Take Open Communications, we are not the biggest PR agency but we have a portfolio of fantastic businesses that we work with and this is because when we launched in 2008 we were adamant that we would manage our own PR. Although it sounds strange you would be surprised at how many agencies can’t find the time to communicate with their clients and prospects.

 

As a result of the PR that we do for Open, and the relationships that we have with our clients, 80% of our new business comes from recommendation. We know that through effective communication, which includes the blog, press releases, sponsorship and relationships we are giving our own business the power.

 

The values of our business are relatively simple; what you see is what you get, we are straight talking and we do the job and do it well. All of our clients understand how we work and because we manage our own reputation, as well as that of our customers, we have been able to grow and develop over the last five years.

 

Building relationships is essential to the success of any organisation and that starts with word of mouth, so make sure that when people talk about your business they are conveying your key messages and that you are giving them the power that they need to become your next best advocate.

Making the augmented a reality

Posted on April 12, 2013 by

Ok, I confess, I don’t really ‘get’ a lot of the campaigns which are relying on AR codes to bring them to life. I understand that AR codes mean that agencies can be more inventive and creative but I struggle with what that brings to the brand and consumer experience.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think the technology is amazing and yet another step towards a world where make believe and reality collide – and this is my point.

Here’s an example, I walk into a supermarket and pick up a product. I scan the AR code and a flashy (and admittedly impressive) animation comes to life in front of my eyes. WOW. I then look at the prices of the products, pick the cheapest – usually the one on offer – and leave.

I will have no greater brand loyalty to the company who have spent thousands on a campaign that uses an AR code because they haven’t given me any reason to do so. I haven’t derived any added value from that animation. I would think it was impressive and probably tell people at work – because I work in PR – but otherwise I wouldn’t think about it again until I read about it in the marketing industry trade press.

This is where I am going to completely contradict myself, well kind of, because Tesco have nailed it. Hannah passed on an example of a campaign using AR codes which is simple, impressive and brings the campaign into the real world, encouraging consumers to engage and most importantly come back time and time again.

The campaign uses an association between Tesco and Iron Man 3. The idea is that shoppers can download a free iOS or Android app, which will allow them to generate an image of themselves wearing the Iron Man armour… now here’s the impressive part. They can then scan Iron Man point of sale in store to ‘unlock’ a further six suits with each showcasing a new weapon that users can fire!

I challenge anyone not to get excited by this app. Come on! Admittedly you will need to be accompanied by a boy aged between around 6 – 12 (the target audience for the campaign) in order for it not to look odd, and remember to seem suitably impressed but not show just how much when you’re ‘shooting’ people in store. I can already see my nephew cringing as I make the noises that accompany my new armour… well, it has to be done.

Taking a digital campaign and putting it into the real world is exactly what a truly integrated campaign is all about and I think this example gives the consumer an experience, while delivering for the client – in this case Tesco.

I have seen other examples of AR codes which take you to more information about a product, which is useful but not overtly exciting – however if it meets with the objective and is what the brands target audience would want then it works and it works far better than a flashy animation.

I think that perhaps we (agencies working for brands) need to think beyond the exciting pretty pictures and think more about the real life benefits of these campaigns. Only then will we start to see real value and results from the work that we do and when clients’ see results they want more and with more comes longer term relationships.

We may all get some column inches in the marketing trade press from a campaign that is impressive to our peers but when we sit back it’s the client we should all be thinking about.