You know the drill – all you need to do to take part is tweet your “caption” to @revolverpr, post it to our facebook wall or add your comment to the blog below. We’ll announce the winner tomorrow – good luck!

This week’s winning caption, chosen by Account Director Helen Reid came from @anniemac63 :

This made us giggle – Garfield does indeed look very unimpressed with his get-up and ready to pounce! Congratulations, a virtual mulled wine is winging its way to you!

You know the drill – all you need to do to take part is tweet your “caption” to @revolverpr, post it to our facebook wall or add your comment to the blog below. We’ll announce the winner tomorrow – good luck!

This week’s winning caption came from @summerdaze7 :

We’re always happy to help, so here’s the six essential questions every start-up company needs to ask itself before setting off on the public relations trail ….

What’s the scoop?

Think about your readership; is what you have to say interesting? Is it newsworthy? Hundreds of companies start-up every day, chances are (unless yours is truly unique) that news of your business starting isn’t going to be inspiring enough to make it’s way to print… but don’t despair, there is always an interest in something, it’s just a case of figuring out what! So, if not your launch then consider: a new product or feature, promotional events, or your company’s position on a relevant newsworthy topic.

Remember, you want to interest the journalist, journalists want to interest their readers – so make sure you’re targeting their readers with something they’ll want to read!

What are you trying to say?

Obviously the most important thing about PR is making sure your message is understood by the public, right? Well, you’d be surprised how many times the key message in a press release gets lost in a sea of jargon and off-topic dialogue. Make sure that you can keep your message as clear and concise as possible, after all, you want as many people to understand as possible to maximise your exposure, and of course, journalists aren’t interested in things they or their readers won’t understand.

Easier said than done? Unsure if your message is clear? A lot of people involved in jargon-heavy industries can sometimes struggle to recognise it, try getting a friend to read it and tell you what it’s about, if they can’t figure out what you’re trying to say, chances are others won’t either.

Who’s going to read it?

Everything is interesting to someone, and chances are, there will be a publication for that someone, so make sure your releases are going to the right kind of places to be read by the right kind of people. The simple fact is, not everything your business does is going to have a widespread appeal, but it will have some appeal! It’s important to recognise who is going to be interested in what you’ve got to say. Consider building a variety of different mailing lists that can target specific areas, what might interest a journalist from a trade website may not interest a regional newspaper journalist, so make sure the right releases are going to the right places.

How do you build a mailing list? Hit the search engines; look for news items and articles with a similar content to your own, find the kind of publications that would be willing to publish items that can cover a variety of different demographics. And phone them! Ask for email addresses; remember, journalists always want stories, so they’ll be happy to have them sent directly to them or to a generic address… but, all the more reason to target your releases. If they know you only send relevant releases they’ll want to read them, but if you get a reputation for spamming them with everything, you’ll end up getting ignored.

What else will you need?

You’ve sent your release and generated some interest. Fantastic. But some journalists think there is more to the story than just running the release and they’re on your case, now what? It’s always good practice to make sure you’ve got readily available resources that you can send at request, this can include: photos, videos, quotes from key people, any data or infographics or a deeper explanation and insight in to the topic.

Make sure that you mention that there are resources available in your pitch; it may seem obvious, but make sure you enclose contact details too. Give a little information about what resources are available, whether images are hi or lo-res and who potential quotes would come from.

When should I use embargoes?

Embargoes can be very useful when you want to time coverage at exactly the right time. Got an exclusive bit of news? A new product? New service? New launch? If you place an embargo on a release you can ensure that all your targeted journalists can have stories lined up to coincide with the big day for maximum exposure! And as the velvet cloth is whipped away to the open-mouthed gasps of onlookers, the rest of the world can share in the adulation as publications mirror the big reveal in writing, what could go wrong?

Be careful! Embargoes are there when you want journalists to have advanced warning of a big event, either to give them sufficient time to develop the article or to coincide with an event day to get maximum publicity. So make sure that an embargoed piece falls in to one of these categories! If a pitch is needlessly embargoed journalists may ignore the embargo or, more likely, forget about the piece come the big day.

How can I build a relationship with journalists?

So you’ve built your custom mailing-lists, and your sending your tailored releases. But somehow, it doesn’t feel enough, you want a better idea of what these journalists want so you know you’re sending the right stuff. If only there was some way of being able to stay continuously connected to this large number of people so you can know what they’re thinking. Good news! Social media is the future! …it is also the present, and no self-respecting journalist will miss out on the benefits of an online presence; following journalists on Twitter will mean you’re constantly plugged in to their wants and needs. This insight can be invaluable when tailoring your releases and pitches.

But don’t feel you have to be totally passive, the clue is in the name, SOCIAL media – a little interaction can go a long way and can be a great way to build a relationship that extends beyond solely professional.

Of course, the critics are already pointing to the faintly visible sails of Google and Apple on the horizon, but the idea that anything in this industry can be left behind – stood, teary-eyed, suitcases in hand at an empty port – is ridiculous. If it has something innovative to offer then it has every chance of challenging, the question for Microsoft and Mango is: does it? Or, more importantly, can they convince us?

The challenge is a sizeable one; the decaying headstones of HP’s WebOS and Microsoft’s own Zune will serve as an ever-present reminder that these things can and will fall flat, if neglected. Both could provide valuable lessons: first, the death of an – arguably – excellent operating system born of mismanagement, and second, that innovation is born out of a conviction in the product; not abandoning it at the first sign of trouble.

To give you an idea of the challenge that faces Microsoft, in 2008 13% of smartphones ran a Windows operating system; the first half of 2011? 2%. This, compared to Apple’s 19% and Android’s 42%.

Should Mango, therefore, have the right to assume it’s place on the shelves alongside Android and iPhone, it still won’t be mission accomplished. The problem for Microsoft is that matching its competitors in terms of actual product, was only ever going to be half the war. For Mango to truly succeed it needs to escape the culture of failure.

At the root of this, is Microsoft’s partnership with Nokia. At a quick glance, the world’s largest computing corporation and a telecommunications company that sells more handsets than any other, looks a mighty team. The slightest of deeper analyses reveals that it counts for nothing. The ghost of Windows Mobile will still haunt the corridors, now clutching that leaked Stephen Elop memo. It will float up and point to the lines that say ‘The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don’t have a product that is close to their experience.’ and ‘Android came on the scene just over two years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes.’

Scary stuff.

So it is a necessity that the Micria/Nokiosoft partnership recognises that the success of Mango, and the Nokia smartphones it’ll inhabit, will be in their ability to make sure that everyone but them forgets about their prior ventures.

If Elop & co. thought it was a challenge to take on the iOS and Android in a battle of technology, they’re in for hell when it comes to the battle of the brand. Apple and Google have permeated every part of their brands with a culture of innovation; Apple is practically synonymous. A sweep of the messageboards shows that it is so embedded in people’s mindsets that they want to believe that everything they do is new and wonderful, even if the technology has been around for ages and developed independently (read Siri). These are companies that the term “Super-Brand” might as well have been coined for.

So how?

A large portion of this roll-out, you would hope, will be a big online presence, and in online communities perhaps lies the window of opportunity (pun not intended). At the moment, Apple and Google have filled the general public’s cup in terms of what they’re willing to consider innovative, but the Tech community are a little less susceptible to the smoke and mirrors of branding. This is a demographic that Microsoft should not overlook in terms of its sway on public opinion. HTC found themselves presented with a clear path in to the mass-consumer market after years bubbling under the surface as the reserve of “people who know what they’re talking about”. It is these people’s allegiance that will provide the most compelling case for Mango to be taken seriously as a competitor, the “My mate Dave, who knows computers…” that will always have ear of peers when it comes to new technologies emerging on to the market place.

The fact is, an informed approach to social media can connect a brand to the right individuals and communities; those that are setting the agenda and advocacy. It can ensure that these messages translate in to a fertile online reputation.

This is something that will need to be keenly managed. Aiming at a more informed demographic means a much higher degree of scrutiny – the product had better be up to it. Also, Microsoft can not afford to wait for tech-savvy positivity to roll-out organically, they’ll need to be plugged in to every engaged community and ensure that it makes it in to the public-eye. And this lot are not a forgiving bunch …a saying vaguely comes to mind, something to do with swords and living, or was it dying?

It would certainly be a brave move were Microsoft to pin their reputation on the scrutiny readily-damning tech community, but that’s the thing about innovation, you have to be prepared to take risks. If not, they had better hope that Mango becomes the new benchmark, because the side-effect of allowing yourself to fall behind is that you’ll need to be running faster than the men in front.

The interns were challenged to make something famous while changing public perception and The Social Tattoo Project was their solution. The project’s premise is to sponsor unique tattoos based around major world issues that are then tattooed onto volunteers. To implement this, their social strategy involved asking Twitter and Facebook followers each week to vote between four trending twitter topics and, at the end of the week, the winning topic is chosen.

This innovative positive action demonstrates that sustainable and credible communication is key to captivating ongoing interest and empathy in the message and ultimately maintain the momentum of a campaign long term.

“Someone’s empathy can expire,” says Jenn Huang, co creator of The Social Tattoo Project. “If you ask someone now what’s happening in Haiti they probably couldn’t tell you, so we came up
with a social experiment where we make empathy permanent by tattooing volunteers.”

Head over to their Youtube page to see what causes they’ve inked up so far, from #poverty to #Norway, and show your support by following the campaign on their Twitter and Facebook. To continue, as the project’s budget decrease, more volunteers willing to cover the cost of ink are needed, so the feeling behind the issue quite rightly doesn’t disappear and remains in the public eye.

The mobile marketing and multi platform competition, DS4 Seekers is essentially a massive game of hide and seek where players hide a virtual DS4s in the streets around them.

After registering on their Facebook page, players are given a virtual DS4 to hide across Google Mobile Maps and Streetview. Players are then rewarded points if they successfully hide it from competitors or if they find a rival’s virtual Citreon DS4s. The points gives the player one entry in the draw to win a brand new DS4, the more points won gives them more entries and more chances to win.

As tablet and smartphone sales set to eclipse laptop and computer sales this year, knowledge of how best to implement new technology combined with innovative digital campaigns like this is essential to companies wishing to stand out.

The Revolver PR team are back, our visas’ expired but far from weary. We’ve brought home a token to serve the memory of our most fondly remembered jaunts, can you guess where it is?

We’ve dotted little picture postcard clues below and on our twitter and facebook pages to help.

Piece them together and either tweet your entry followed by #RevolverPR or guess away on our facebook page or right here. The first to guess the location correctly wins our grand prize!

Here’s the first piece of the picture!

Good Luck!


(The blast of a triumphant trumpet) Well done Alec for guessing GoApe correctly!



Have a great weekend folks!

Reports from the USA suggest that facebook is doing more than just keeping people connected…it’s helping police to fight crime!
Local police across America have started using Facebook to post information on local cases and to ask the public for help.
Feedback from officers suggests that Facebook users really are helping them to catch the bad guys. “Witnesses are using our local page to give us really useful information,” said Sgt. Joe Smart of the Conroe Police Department (Texas). Police in the area have been using Facebook to profile suspects and criminals since May this year. Local people have through facebook directly helped to arrest three people and to gather leads on several other open cases.
Police are also using the networking site to posts heat maps to tell the public where thefts, burglaries, car break-ins and other crimes are happening in the local area.

Across the border in Canada, the Toronto Police Service is joining in on the facebook action. The force has a new social media initiative, encouraging officers to sign up for Facebook, specifically stating that they are a member of the local police force.
The goal is to have around 200 officers with online profiles by early November. The program is designed to improve communication between police and the public. “We’ve prevented some pretty serious incidents simply because people reached out to the few police officers that openly stated that they were in the police on their social media sites,” said Const. Scott Mills, the force’s social media officer.
Mills continued to explain that two years ago, a Facebook friend alerted him to someone posting anti-Semitic rants on their Facebook account, which led to the person’s arrest and prevented what police deemed to be a violent attack threat.
Earlier this month, the Toronto police website added a facebook page where users can report lost property, crimes under $5,000 and traffic complaints.

Across the country in Vancouver, police received more than 3,500 email tips (many linked to Facebook photos of the rioters) in the week following the Stanley Cup riot which resulted in 140 civilians and nine police officers being injured, and saw 101 people arrested after trouble broke out at the annual ice hockey tournament.

Social networking certainly seems to be helping law enforcement in the USA. What do you think about the police using social media? Would it work in this country? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

The application takes a light hearted approach to the serious subject by allowing users to pick the body they would like to ‘work on’ (titter titter) from a gallery of torso’s.
You are then walked through the two steps of Hands-Only CPR: calling 9-1-1 and pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest until professional help arrives.

New York ad agency Gotham created the application for the American Heart Association and Ad Council.
“We took a novel approach with the execution to increase the likelihood of viewer engagement and pass on — with the intention to help save lives,”
said Peter McGuinness, chairman and CEO of Gotham.

Nearly 300,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually in America – 80 percent at home, according to the American Heart Association. A recent survey revealed that 70 percent of Americans feel ‘helpless to act during a cardiac emergency’ because they don’t know how to correctly administer CPR. Performing Hands-OnlyTM CPR on adults who suddenly collapse can more than double their chances of survival.

The campaign is accompanied by a television advert featuring Comedian and actor Ken Jeong (of Hangover fame) who holds a medical degree from the Universities of North Carolina (now there’s a Friday fact for you).

A fantastic digital campaign that engages viewers and can in just a few minutes teach them a lifesaving skill.”
To learn more about Hands-Only CPR and to have a go yourself, visit the Hands Only website.

Have a great weekend folks!

credits

We’ve left little picture postcard clues down below , and on our twitter, and facebook pages.

Fame, glory and sun tans await…

Piece them together and either tweet your entry followed by #RevolverPR or guess away on our blog or facebook page. The first to guess the location correctly wins our grand prize!

Here’s the first piece of the picture!

Good Luck!

Once again you lot are far to well travelled for us ! You guessed ‘Bankies Bike’ in Clydebank correctly! (well done to @LadyKentmores and @ChrisCathcart).
Never to be defeated however, we’ve got another picture for you, and this one’s a real toughie!…can guess where we are this time?

As usual, find your next two clues on our twitter, and facebook pages.

Double Drum roll please…..this week’s have two iSpy winners!

The winning answer for the first location (‘Bankies Bike’ in Clydebank) came from….George Johnson from @LadyKentmores antiques. Well done George!

And (drum roll again please) our second iSpy location (Alton Towers) was correctly guessed by the eagle eyed @KevinGilmartin Congratulations Kevin!

Have a great weekend!