We’ll finish this post with a quote from Revolver’s Managing Director Iain S Bruce:

“Steve Jobs’ major accomplishment wasn’t in business and his legacy won’t lie in the designs he left behind. What he did that was truly great was tune ordinary consumers into the technology dream – opening up the public imagination to the infinite possibilities the computing universe offers in a manner few could equal.”

“He was an innovator rather than an inventor, and it’s fair to say that he stood on the shoulders of giants, but without him the dot.communist revolution would be several years further behind.”

Posted to Chinese social media site Weibo in mid-August, the photos quickly sparked conspiracy theories, ranging from UFOs to secret military operations. The original posting of the photos has now been forwarded over 46,500 times.

• Three days later, the formations had already been picked up on by international UFO groups, one of which posted this video:

• By the 22nd of August China’s official news agency, Xinhua, published an article about the “abnormal desert rings,” going so far as to mention aliens.

• By the 26th of August however BMW had come clean through China’s massive news website sina.BMW explained the crop circle viral by saying it aimed to highlight the “UN1QUE” characteristics of both the BMW 1 series model and its prospective driver. Also, UFO is short for “UN1QUE For One.” Hmm…wonder if it makes more sense in China?

Have a look at the advert in full and see what you think:

While the stunt itself was a clear success, it begs the question: was it successful as a brand-building act? The viral created a lot of web buzz, but a great deal of that was from UFO-watchers and conspiracy theorists; is that BMW’s target demographic? And if so, is mocking them the best approach?

BMW is however having a successful year in China, with sales up from 2010. As the nation’s car market contracts, BMW is repositioning to appeal to a different consumer group. The BMW 1 Series is a Chinese made offering: less luxury, more middle class, targeting the sporty, urban, youthful Chinese consumer.

What do you think? Is it clever advertising or are they alienating (sorry) Chinese customers?

Have a great weekend folks!

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.

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!

A substantial 40% of websites tested fail to attract any visitors via PPC or search engines, meaning they have only visitors from direct traffic; only users who know the actual website address visiting them.

Despite this fact,  around one million new domain names were registered in the UK last year.

Are you aware of how many visits you receive on your website? Are you part of that 40% who get no traffic? It’s never too late and steps can be taken to improve a company’s digital pr. If you are serious about acting on this and giving your online presence a good kick to increase your website visibility and traffic get in touch.

Manfrotto, the professional camera equipment manufacturer, has become increasingly aware of the digital evolution and has begun to develop a new strategy and brand positioning to broaden its customer base.

The company is adopting the brand position “Imagine More” and will launch a range of products and accessories for camera enthusiasts and “social recorders”. The company says that the surge in digital photo sharing across social networking and photo-sharing websites will help it broaden the brand appeal through strategic digital PR and marketing.

Being aware of the fact that trend chasing and random leaps into social media will not enhance their bottom line is a must, and rather strategic social media participation – specifically the alignment of social media activities with their business objectives and target demographics will better serve the company.

Believing that there is crossover potential for its brand from the professional photographer to people involved in amateur sports clubs and wildlife photography enthusiasts, for instance, will allow the company to formulate a strategic social media plan.

Manfrotto, owned by Italian company the Vitec Group, will launch a new product range next year that includes camera tripods, bags and lighting equipment targeting the wider audience. However, if they have successfully established a connection with their target demographic they cannot merely deliver a pushy sales pitch. Instead they must engage effectively through the use of constructive and engaging content.

Manfrotto must remember that while content creation is fundamental, it will not be successful on its own. Just as with traditional PR, digital outreach is a key aspect of an effective social media campaign. Online PR is all about excellent relationship management – understanding the needs and wants of key “web influencers” in your market, and the best approaches to use with them.

Nevertheless, a must to be remembered in all cases when referring to social media, there is only one rule: The consumer rules. Individuals decide what content is worth sharing, discussing, rating, downloading, joining. And they base these decisions largely on what their peers are doing online, and on the opinions of “web influencers” – thought leaders with many people following their blog, podcast, forum, video channel, network, etc.

And so for companies, including Manfrotto, to take advantage of this they must be aware of all angles of the social media triangle: content, strategy and engagement.

Revolver PR Managing Director Iain S Bruce has been invited to address an audience of architects, builders, construction lawyers and surveyors on the value of investing in a digital public relations strategy in a recession. Organised by Glasgow Property Professionals , the prestigious event will see an an audience from all sections of the property sector participate in a session designed to provide them with relevant case studies and a strategic overview of the challenge ahead.

“In the current economic climate PR and marketing budgets are often the first to be slashed, but all the evidence shows that it is the companies that remain committed to corporate communications that reap the benefits as the recovery gathers pace,” said Bruce.

“In the era of the digital media, this has become more crucial than ever before. Every company needs to compete for position online, and while technology brings companies tools that make public relations easier, cheaper and more effective than ever before, it also means that any firm that neglects its online profile risks being left behind.”

Mark Antscherl, founder and Chief Executive of UK Property Professionals said: “ Our network is growing rapidly and our members benefit from our regular expert forums and networking events. We are delighted that Iain has agreed to speak at this event in Glasgow and share his insights on digital PR and marketing. ”

This event will be held on Thursday 28th October at Corinthian in Glasgow. There are limited places available, to reserve a space simply click this link to book.

Says blogger Toni O’Sullivan: “There’s no doubt that online communication tools such as Twitter, social networking and blogs are all part of society today, but so are conversations at bus stops, in coffee shops and in people’s homes. These face-to-face conversations are driven by information from print newspapers, TV and word of mouth news and views. We’ve got to remember that not everyone spends their day connected to the Internet.

“The distinction between web-based and more traditional information sharing sources is definitely blurring. PROs and Marketers must remember that it’s essential to understand the target audience you are trying to reach and ensure you include the correct media channels in order to reach them. That means being aware of all online and offline channels, and with increasingly rapid technology advances there’s plenty to keep up to date with. It’s an exciting time and one that PROs should embrace in its entirety rather than focusing on one area alone.”

Hats off to Ms O’Sullivan for spotting this one. We’ve always believed that while crucially important, Digital PR is only part of the public relations mix. In a multimedia world, good PR must work across all channels.

According to the company, such users could prove profitable due to their ability to spread positive messages about brand experiences across a broad swathe of connected consumers.

Marketing Sherpa’s research showed that 61% of Max Connectors are interested in forging relationships with with businesses to find out early about products and features, with 48%  also apparently interested in learning about company culture, policies and environmental attitudes.

Interesting stuff, and indeed companies like Starbucks and Ford have demonstrated that campaigns aimed directly at social media users can be hugely succesful. It’s not going to work for everyone, however, and we’d urge anyone considering  taking their digital PR straight to consumers to pause for thought before directing a broadside of marketing spam at every poor soul with 500+ online friends.

The commercial law specialist selected the digital agency to work on its creative strategy and site design following a multi-agency selection process. Responsible for all aspects of the online platform’s development, Bourne will bring its strategic, design and commercial expertise to bear upon a complete refresh of Semple Fraser’s web activities, it says here

“I was pleasantly surprised and very impressed with Bourne’s pitch for our website redevelopment. Not only did they have the creative credentials, but the added value was the knowledge of their whole team that was brought to the table. Their ability to look at the bigger picture and provide strategic advice as well as creative input is giving us a much more rounded solution for the project, which I’m sure will give us a much better finished result,” said Julie Hecht, Marketing Manager at Semple Fraser LLP.