The Brinkwire blog

Winners of the Fresh PR awards 2010

Posted on 07. Mar, 2010 by Andrew.

On the 4th of March in sunny Manchester the good folk at the Fresh PR Awards had a party. There categories and there were winners in these categories (all but one; in which no one won).

You can pick up the ~70 page PDF of winners here. Clunky! Or browse our summary of winners below. Better!

Judges
Mark Borkowski
Andy Green

The Grand Prix
Winner: SKV Communications, J’aime la Tour, Visit Blackpool
Credits: Daniel Kennedy Director, Geraldine Vesey Director, Heather Price Senior Consultant, Kat Atakuru Senior Account Manager

Freshest Not for Profit Campaign
Winner: BJL, Strength to Change, Hull PCT
Credits: Sarah Knight PR Director, Rebecca Hardy Account Director, Vicy West Account Executive

Freshest Digital PR Campaign
Winner: SKV Communications, J’aime la Tour, Visit Blackpool
Credits: Daniel Kennedy Director, Geraldine Vesey Director, Heather Price Senior Consultant, Kat Atakuru Senior Account Manager

Freshest PR Stunt or Event
Winner: Peppermint PR, The Red Recession Dress, The Big Discount Store
Credits: Jane Carroll Account Director, Kirsty Hogarth Account Manager

Winner: Surrey Police, Anti Social Behavior at Halloween and Bonfire Night
Credits: Carys Jones Neighbourhood Comms & Campaigns Manager, Liane Jarman Campaigns Officer

Freshest Media Relations Campaign
Winner: Gardiner Richardson, The North East Big Drink Debate, Balance
Credits: Lucy Gardiner Director, Matt Forster PR Account Manager, Katherine Shenton Senior PR Account Executive

Winner: Willoughby PR, Seriously Scary Fun, Launch of the Castle Dungeon at Warwick Castle, Warwick Castle
Credits: Paula Mitchell TBC

Freshest Use of Celebrity
Winner: JAMpr Ltd, The Velcro® Brand Celebrity Art Challenge, Velcro Ltd
Credits: Jaime Markey Managing Director, Francesca Gaffey Consultant, Lucy Wray Account Manager

Freshest Use of Print
Winner:Stockport Council, Kill The Chill (Talking Leaflet), Stockport Council
Credits: Ian Ratcliffe Head of Marketing & Communications

Freshest Internal Communications
Winner:Kinetic Communications, Internal Communications, Martindale
Credits: Angela Podmore Lead Consultant, Jane Doyle Culture Change Specialist, Rebecca Sloan Broadcast Technician and Support

Freshest External Communications
Winner:Grayling (TriMedia) Grayling and BiG – Make it Your Business, Sheffield City Council’s Local Enterprise Growth Initiative
Credits: Joanne Ash, Sheffield City Council’s Enterprise Team, Justin McKeown Division Director, Philippa Naylor Consultant, Vicki Murphy Consultant, Kirsty O’Connor Client Executive

Freshest Community Relations
Winner: BJL, Be Cotsafe, FSID’s
Credits: Sarah Knight PR Director, Rebecca Hardy Account Director, Vicy West Account Executive

Freshest Green PR
Winner: Tricker PR, The Big Green Challenge, Highlands & Islands Enterprise
Credits: Beverley Tricker Managing Director, Laura Anderson Senior Account Manager

Freshest Business to Business Campaign
Winner: Man Bites Dog, Credit – Where it’s due? Roland Berger
Credits: Claire Mason Managing Director, Daryl Newman Senior Account Director, David Mercer Account Manager, Mark Doonan Senior Account Executive

Freshest Consumer Campaign
Winner: Peppermint PR, The Red Recession Dress, The Big Discount Store
Credits: Jane Carroll Account Director, Kirsty Hogarth Account Manager

Freshest Public Sector Campaign
Winner: SKV Communications, J’aime la Tour, Visit Blackpool
Credits: Daniel Kennedy Director, Geraldine Vesey Director, Heather Price Senior Consultant, Kat Atakuru Senior Account Manager

Freshest Integrated Communications
Winner: Derbyshire County Council, Fostering Recruitment Campaign, Derbyshire County Council
Credits: Jenny Tozer Assistant Director – Communications

Freshest Low Budget PR Campaign
Winner: Peppermint PR, The Red Recession Dress, The Big Discount Store
Credits: Jane Carroll Account Director, Kirsty Hogarth Account Manager

Winner: Platform PR, Bake-Off: The Search for Britain’s Perfect Scone, Mackenzie & Cruickshank
Credits: Jane Cumming Managing Director, Charlotte Kissack Account Director, Lynsey Ross Account Executive

Freshest Young PR Professional
Winner: Jaime Markey, JAMpr Ltd
Credits: Jaime Markey Managing Director

Freshest Small PR Team
Winner: Footprint Communications
Credits: Vanessa Gardner Managing Director, Alex Kelly Account Manager, Steve Cross Account Executive

Freshest PR Team (In-House and Consultancy Teams)
Winner (In House) : Derbyshire County Council
Credits: Jenny Tozer Assistant Director – Communications

Winner (Consultancy) – Man Bites Dog
Credits: Claire Mason Managing Director, Daryl Newman Senior Account Director, Eli David Account Director,
David Mercer Account Manager, Mark Doonan Senior Account Executive, Gabrielle Stirling Operations Manager

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A PR site that honours embargoes

Posted on 01. Mar, 2010 by Andrew.

The issue around embargoes is tricky. Powerful media sites are saying they’re not happy with the concept and have no plans in honouring embargoes going forward. TechCrunch, in particular, hates the concept.

We’re a PR site. We honour embargoes – in fact, you can use Brinkwire to set a release time so your press release does not go live before the embargo date; although we find most companies use this feature to coordinate the timing of the release.

Last week TechCrunch started a little meme by pushing a short dialog between a PR and a site owner.

PR Pro: Hi I’m just checking you got the email I sent.

Blogger: When did you send it?

PR Pro: Five minutes ago.

Blogger: Oh. I get a lot of email.

PR Pro: Shall I send it again?

Blogger: No. What did it say?

PR Pro: I’d love to tell you, but you’ll have to agree to the embargo first.

Blogger: Ok whatever, I agree, now tell me more.

PR Pro: Can you email back first saying you agree to the embargo?

Blogger: I get a lot of email.

PR Pro: Please.

Blogger: Look, I honor the fucking embargo. Now tell me more.

PR Pro: A Silicon Valley based startup is going to announce a new revolutionary software as a service for social media companies targeting B2B. It will change the way social media marketing is done forever. Are you interested in a briefing with the company’s CEO.

Blogger: No, I don’t cover B2B.

PR Pro: But I thought you wrote about social media.

Blogger: I do, but not B2B.

PR Pro: But it is revolutionary.

Blogger: So are all the others.

PR Pro: Really?

Blogger: Yes. Look, when every new social media service is revolutionary it is no longer news.

PR Pro: I didn’t know that, but we are working on an API.

Blogger: I’m not interested.

PR Pro: Oh.

Blogger: Sorry.

PR Pro: Can I still email you the details?

Blogger: If you must.

PR Pro: And you’ll honor the embargo?

Blogger: Yes, I’ll honor the embargo. In fact I’ll make you a better offer.

PR Pro: Oh.

Blogger: I will honor the embargo for the rest of my working life. As I have no intention of writing about your new revolutionary software as a service for social media companies that will change the way social media marketing is done forever. So, yes, I’ll honor the fucking embargo.

PR Pro: I can’t thank you enough.

Blogger: It’s nothing. Really.

What’s given the meme that extra bite is the use of Xtranormal to turn the dialog into a short animation. Check it out.

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An interview with Greg Jarboe of SEO-PR as we gear up for SES London

Posted on 08. Feb, 2010 by Andrew.

We’ve been lucky enough to score an interview with Greg Jarboe.  Greg’s been at the forefront of the blended SEO/PR style for so long that he’s synomymous with the tactic.

Q. You’re the President and co-founder of SEO-PR and helped pioneer many of the ways in which PR can be good for SEO. Do you think it’s worked the other way around? Has SEO been good for PR?

A. Not yet.  I’ve found that more SEOs understand the benefits of PR a lot sooner than the other way around.  We are often brought in to meet with a company’s PR department or PR agency by someone on the SEO side of the house.  There are exceptions, of course.  But I often forget that my background was in “high tech PR,” so maybe SEO didn’t seem as foreign to me as it might to a traditional media relations shop.  PR people seem more interested these days in social media than they are in SEO.  So, at least they won’t go the way of buggy whip makers.

Q. Do you think SEO agencies tend to be better at distributing online press releases than traditional PR firms? Or is it the other way around?

A.  SEO agencies tend to use press release distribution services that provide SEO options, anchor text links, and metrics.  The vast majority of traditional PR firms use expensive press release distribution services that are supposed to reach “mainstream media,” without realizing that most journalists and bloggers now use search to find story ideas.  Oh, and many traditional distribution services charge extra for press releases that are longer than 400 words.  This might have made sense, back in the late 20th Century, when press releases were distributed over teletype machines that used paper.  But, what is the cost of distributing longer releases to digital media?

Q. What are some of the differences between a good SEO savvy PR campaign and a great one?

A. The biggest difference is results.  If you optimize a press release that gets a high ranking for terms that no one uses, so what?  If someone reads your press release, but doesn’t click on any of the links in it, so what?  If they get to your website, but don’t become a qualified lead or buy something online, so what?  At the end of the day, you’ve got to do all of this in order to make the cash register ring.  When it does, that’s a great PR campaign.

Q. Let’s warm up the future-seeing crystal ball. What changes do you expect will come to online PR and PR for SEO in the near future? What adjustments do you think the industry will need to make?

A. The future for online PR will continue to be bleak — as long as the universities continue to prepare their graduates for 20th Century careers.  Most companies can’t afford to retrain an entire generation of new employees for the digital age.  And most individuals can’t afford to train themselves for jobs that didn’t exist six years ago.  Yes, yes, some clever firms and folks will figure out a way to muddle through.  But the industry needs a more systemic solution.

Q. What’s one of your top tips for getting bloggers to take notice of a press release and/or news piece?

A. My first tip is to read their blogs first and only send bloggers something that they are already interested in writing about.  Next, don’t send them your press release.  Ask them if they are interested in getting a copy — in advance.  Third, be sure to include a photo (jpeg) and a video (YouTube).  Yes, yes, the words in your story are important, but so are the graphics to the readers of blogs.

Q. How important has building online buzz become for off-line events like conferences and tradeshows?

A.  Very important.  Maybe not as important as having great speakers and sessions, but online buzz ranks right after great content.  We have a saying that sums this up: It’s the conference organizer’s job to knock ‘em dead.  It’s our job to notify the next of kin.

Q. Is Search Engine Strategies harder or easier to engage with bloggers about than other events?

A. It is harder than some and easier than others.  The hardest event was BlogOn 2004, because Chris Shipley wanted to position it as the event about “the business of social media.”  But, back in July 2004, no one had ever heard the term “social media” because Chris had just coined it.  So, we had a hard time explaining why bloggers why they should come to UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.  The easiest event was the 2007 Wharton Economic Summit.  The keynote speakers included Michael Milken as well as the Chief Executive Officer of Medtronic, senior vice president of External Affairs and Public Policy for DaimlerChrysler Corporation, senior partner worldwide of McKinsey & Company, chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch & Co., and the creator and host of a nationally syndicated radio program.  The event got more than 1,100 attendees – a record in the school’s 125-year history.  But it’s easier to engage bloggers when you can offer them access to speakers who are harder to reach?

Q. You’ll be moderating a session at Search Engine Strategies London about real time SEO called “No More Yesterday’s News”. What sort of topics do you hope the panellists will cover? (They’re Brent Payne – SEO Director from Tribune, Paul Roach – Technical Lead for SEO from the Guardian and Julian Sambles – Head of Audience Development at the Telegraph).

A. This session will focus on specific aspects of SEO for large media companies.  The panelists will discuss the tools that media companies use to help them rank well for breaking news keywords as well as to capitalize on social media opportunities that exist within news content to help media companies to do well on sites such as: Digg, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc.  Attendees will learn about the future of video SEO and how structured data will play an important role in the future of video SEO for media companies.  Lastly, the session will show attendees how to be successful in executing on large projects related to SEO within a media company.  And I get to be the moderator.  Even if I didn’t have that assignment, I’d have a seat in the front row.

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Edelman inherits Kraft’s Cadbury challenge

Posted on 19. Jan, 2010 by Andrew.

Now that Cadbury’s and Kraft have lined up to allow the £11.5bn takeover of the British firm the PR colossus that is Edelman has a PR challenge on their hands.

The press has made much of the 186-year old British company, started in Birmingham, losing its identity and becoming American.

This concern seems to be validated by a quick Twitter search that shows many people expressing their own doubts. In fact, today, Cadbury is a trending term in the real time social network.

In fact, there’s so much interest that the Cadbury webservers can’t cope and the site has gone down. This holding page struggles in the limelight instead.

Some PRs are bullish on the brand’s fortunes. Christine Jewell, joint MD of 3 Monkeys, told trade press that;

“Chocolate rules for the consumer, as long as Kraft does not tinker with its brand values. Most consumers will quickly forget the brand’s ownership.”

.. but does this mean that if Edelman manage to calm the growing public concern that they’ll be credited with just keeping a hand on the rudder? Certainly the spotlight will swing back their way if there is as much as a bubble in the chocolate.

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PR budgets beginning to show a positive jiggle

Posted on 18. Jan, 2010 by Andrew.

It’s that time of the year when we get an IPA/bDO Bellwether survey. This means the good folks at BDO and the IPA have marshalled enough responses together from clients to get a meaningful look at some stats. I know, from experience, this is not an easy thing to do.

What we can see is that there’s been a bounce in the budget going to PR efforts. PR Week call it a slowing down in the decline and it is true that we are not back up to even 2000 levels of spend. Here at Brinkwire we like to call this a bounce. A positive jiggle. An upwards wiggle.

Based on our experience here at running a service for PR agencies and in-house teams we see the same thing. Well; we’re still so new we can’t really compare “old” with “new” but this year has been busier than all of last year. Lots of PR agencies are looking for press release solutions that have both SEO and Social Media built in. We seem to be an easy pitch slide. So perhaps this “wiggle” isn’t just due to recovering in budget but also due to a growing interest in Social Media and PR agencies stepping up to take on that work?

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Toby Nicol moves to Findus

Posted on 13. Jan, 2010 by Andrew.

Widely respected Toby Nicol has landed a role at Findus. Excuse the use of the word “landed” there as Nicol’s former position was as the big boss of easyJet’s communication.

At Findus, Nicol will be responsible for a number of brands (including Young’s Seafood) and we assume working with the likes of Finn Communications who won the six-figure PR task for Findus UK in a competitive pitch.

Nicol has experience in areas such as lobbying and regulatory affairs as well as media relations, financial and social responsibility. It remains to be seen whether Findus has an eye on the green watch and is staffing up to look after its fishing interests.

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The Press Association creates TNR Communications

Posted on 12. Jan, 2010 by Andrew.

The Press Association is creating a new agency for online, photo and broadcast PR services by merging TNR and PA Photocall.

The new PR agency will also be creating a service called Videocall which makes use of social media and video. Hopefully we’ll see them making use of Brinkwire’s all-in use of YouTube video embedding in our PR hosting and distribution service!

As you’d expect; they’ve put out a communication about the merger and new agency. In it MD Claire Southeard says;

“TNR and PA Photocall have worked together very closely for three years, developing their reputations as providers of PR services with editorial integrity.

“However, the opportunities presented by our merger take us into a different league, not only because it brings together the talents of two very experienced and creative teams into one multimedia consultancy, but also because we can now offer a fully comprehensive range of communications services from our unique position at the heart of the Press Association.”

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Stop talking about SEO and get on with it!

Posted on 07. Jan, 2010 by Andrew.

I’ve just this week subscribed to PR Moment’s blog. Ben Smith’s written a post today that seems to confirm that as a wise decision.

In his post Ben argues that the PR community has a chance to grow its marketshare relative to the other marcom mix. The post is simply titled; Blogs, SEO, and video content it all there. PR Just needs to get on with.

The crux of the post is that now is the time to actually do what you said you’d do in 2009.

I agree with Ben. There’s been a shake up and now everyone needs to put their money with their mouth is. Issues like SEO might have perplexed some PR professionals a few years ago but surely there can’t be many of them left? Many simple press release hubs –including ourselves – make it easy for the humble press release to be used in a search engine friendly way. Surely PR companies don’t need to debate the pros and cons of this any more?

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CIPR President, Jay O’Connor, tackles 2010

Posted on 06. Jan, 2010 by Andrew.

Over at PR Voice you’ll find the CIPR President’s New Year message. O’Conner begins by thanking outgoing President Kevin Taylor which is nice if predictable.

Jay tackles a key question; “What’s the role of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations”. This blogger thinks it’s a good question. Aren’t we all in public relations now? Anyone of us could tweet a PR-like statement about a big brand and enjoy the Google broadcast effect of real-time search.

Jay’s answer; the CIPR is to be the advocate and the voice of the PR profession. They’re here to PR PR. I foresee Jay getting involved in battles to ‘own’ social media the as I’m sure 2010 will see marketing and PR departments battle over social media’ budgets.

Jay goes on to discuss the clear vision for the Institute. It’s a vision designed to put the CIPR at the heart of the profession. There’s also a three year plan, in the works, which will be shared later. I think this is quite a challenge. It’ll certainly be hard to estimate how much, for example, public created video commentary will be impacting Public Relation issues in 2012.

I’d encourage readers to pop over to PR Voice and read the whole letter.

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The PR opportunities behind a tweet: @CoryBooker and @BigSixxRaven

Posted on 04. Jan, 2010 by Andrew.

This story has made it all the way across the globe to a snowy Scotland.

Seems the local residents in Jersey are also suffering from some unwelcome snowfall too. Local radio DJ (with the rather awesome name of Ravie Rave) noticed the authorities hadn’t shoved her 65-year-old father’s pavement she did something about it.

What did she do? Call the authorities? Nope. Shovel the snow herself? Use the radio to summon up help? No.

Rave used her Twitter account, @BigSixxRaven, to tweet the Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Mr Booker, you see, is also on Twitter as @CoryBooker.

Now Cory Booker already has a good reputation as a no-nonsense type of politician. I suspect he’s a savvy one too.  The major turned up at the snow covered walkway himself to do the labour. Not bad, huh?

This beats weeks of election spin. It’s an unexpected act that’s quirky enough to broadcast around the blogs. Both Rave and Booker will benefit from this.

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