Marketing And Advertising | Speed Communications Blog

April 11th, 2011 by Speed Budapest (Matt)

When was the last time you googled yourself?

There was an interesting article in the FT at the weekend about how to manage your online presence effectively and why it’s now an important part of building a successful career. Whilst some parts of managing your online brand seem like common sense – don’t swear like a sailor or share inappropriate photos with the whole world – some of it isn’t quite so obvious, making the article an essential read for students and PR professional alike.

For university students, managing your online presence offers invaluable experience, showing that you fully understand the importance of reputation management and can navigate online networks with ease. It also presents you with a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate your skills, share your thoughts, and build links with influential people in the industry.

Managing your online presence isn’t just about appealing to new employers though; it can also be a key part of winning new business. If you wanted to hire a PR agency, would you not be tempted to google the names of the consultants that you would potentially be working with? And if you were impressed with a particular company’s communications, would you not want to try and find out who was behind it? Of course you would!

It’ll be very interesting to see how this trend evolves. Already PR agencies are offering firms help with developing social media guidelines for spokespeople and other staff. But as more businesses start caring about how staff carry themselves online, perhaps we’ll see more PR agencies and SEO firms working with time-poor individuals to ‘clean up’ any social media mistakes that could affect their employability or put off prospective customers.

Posted in agency, pr, skills
Tags: Business, Facebook, google, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Public relations, Search engine optimization, social media
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October 19th, 2010 by Rebecca Gregory

Gap succumbs to online vigilantism?

Image via Wikipedia

Retracting a new logo amid social media backlash says a lot for brand loyalty and the power of social media. Various media commentaries have been both scathing of Gap in showing a certain lack of corporate backbone in succumbing to this online pressure, as well as placing so much importance in its brand logo.

On the latter, this is proof against those scathing commentaries that brand is important, particularly in the consumer world. Although Gap should be pleased that its consumers are so loyal, they also shouldn’t let online chatter belie the strength of their brand; it’s easy to be superficial online. The real question is whether these consumers would physically picket Gap stores? I doubt it. Vigilantism isn’t what it used to be.

Talking superficially, I also suspect that if the new logo had looked less like a generic IT services company and was more in tune with slim happy people the online response would have been mixed, generating debate, rather than overwhelmingly against.

Although Gap was changing just its logo, the point here is that consumers don’t like surprises, they need to be gently eased into it with their hands held and reassurances that the product won’t change, even if the brand image does. I remember when Marathon rebranded to Snickers many years ago; it was like the world as you know it being turned upside down.

Did Gap show a lack of backbone? Yes, I think it did. In a social media world did they really expect the response to be nothing but super positive? What else is citizen journalism if not a vehicle for being as negative and abusive as possible about something you’ll forget about in a week, and all without reprimand? Apparently the Twitter handle collected nearly 5,000 followers, and the Facebook site more than 2,000 followers. These figures are hardly crippling. Gap would have done better to let the ranters’ rant, and then wait for the real impact on sales and brand loyalty to feed in over the coming months; and then make an informed decision.

Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: Brand, brand equity, Brand loyalty, Business, Facebook, Gap, Marketing and Advertising, Online Communities, protest, Snickers, social media, Twitter
No Comments »

August 5th, 2010 by Clare English

'Speeps' Profiles – Simon Matthews

This week, the winner of our ‘Wall of Shame’ competition (on the basis of the submission of this super snap), Simon Matthews, answers some suitably random questions about fetishes, football and the role of PR in today’s business climate.

Q – Tell us about your worst habit – throw in any fetishes.

A – I’m far too generous which has led to at least one of my friends owing me £600

Q – List the 3 most embarrassing things you’ve ever said/done – whilst sober.

A- Inadvertently accusing my step-step-grandfather (step-dad’s step-dad) of using inflatable sex dolls – in my defence I was young and didn’t really understand what I was talking about.

In ‘Nam I fell down an open manhole while walking across a field with my friends, after an interesting run in with some prostitutes who stole 100,000 Dong (about 5 of her majesty’s sterling pounds) – without any form of professional services being exchanged I hasten to add.

I once ate a habenero chilli in one mouthful because an attractive lady bet I couldn’t. I was successful in the attempt but my mouth was in such a state of pain and dribbling that I was rendered insensible.

Q – What’s your take on today’s business climate and the role & importance of PR?

A – It’s still a little rocky out there in places and PR is as important as ever – if not more so. A company with no PR will struggle for awareness in a competitive business environment, so they need us to put them right in front of their customers in a way that advertising and other marketing disciplines can’t.

Q – Are you a football fan? Why? Who do you support? Have they won anything?

A – Crystal Palace. Winning is for chumps.

Q – I hear match.com will soon have a new member – what qualities do you possess that one might…consider?

A – In the name of research, I have bravely volunteered to sign up to match.com. Apart from being generally great at everything, I’m a pretty good cook. All I can ask is that the ladies form an orderly queue.

Q – Name your top 3 Speeps and the reasons why you love them/don’t love them so much. We’re an honest bunch, don’t be afraid of the possibly hostile repercussions.

A – Very difficult to choose as I do like all of you lot, despite your best efforts – here’s an arbitrary selection:

Bex has to get a look in on this – she’s lovely and, as a bonus, hasn’t fired me.

John Brown – often looks quite dapper and is the source of many japes.

Nicole – lunch buddy extraordinaire.

Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: advertising, Business, Home, inflatable doll, John Brown, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Match.com, People, Speed Communications
2 Comments »

May 12th, 2010 by Chris Measures

B2B sales – from a marathon to a sprint?

: Image by Marcos Vasconcelos Photography via Flickr

The recession has had a massive effect on B2B sales and marketing – but not just in the obvious ways. Yes, companies are buying less and projects have been cancelled or put on hold, but research by TAS into the B2B sales cycle, quoted on the Inflexion Point blog uncovers some surprising facts.

Despite the recession, successful sales cycles are getting shorter. Essentially companies are only going out to the market when they have a clear idea of what they want and the signed-off budget to proceed. So time from qualifying a prospect to signing the deal has reduced by just over 23 per cent. The flipside of this is that if the sales cycle drags on, the opportunity is more and more likely to turn to dust, wasting time and effort.

Where does this leave PR and marketing? I’d say it strengthens the overall part they play in the sales cycle. Prospects are doing due diligence and research before they call you, so you need to ensure you are providing consistent information to them across the whole marketing mix. Get into the publications they read, make your website relevant, have a strong presence in the right digital channels and keep this up on a sustained basis.

With the sales cycle moving from a marathon to a sprint preparation and warming up prospects is even more vital. This is absolutely where integrated PR and marketing delivers, and careful investment here will reap major benefits further down the sales process.

Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: Business, Consulting, Inflexion Point, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, PR, Public relations, Recession, sales cycle, Salesmanship, Website
1 Comment »

March 2nd, 2010 by Chris Measures

Multi-channel communication? Marketing Fail

I had some great news on Friday – my final results for my Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Diploma came through in the post.

I scraped a pass in the final module, meaning after 18 months study I’m now a ‘proper’ marketer.

However imagine my surprise when a couple of hours later I had an email from CIM telling me that my results were now online. But (and rather a big one this) “due to an unprecedented flow of web traffic to our site“, I may not be able to access them. I could telephone during business hours, but “our lines are very busy and there may be a delay in answering your call.”

Luckily I’d already got my results through in the post but imagine the frustration of anyone still waiting. Your potential life-changing results are there, but you can’t get them. Given one of the major topics on the course was integrating multi-channel communications and being able to predict web demand surely it is time for the CIM to practice what it teaches…………

Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: Business, Chartered Institute of Marketing, CIM, Consulting, Internet marketing, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Marketing Services, Marketing strategy, Professional Diploma in Marketing, Web traffic
2 Comments »

'Speeps' Profiles – Simon Matthews

B2B sales – from a marathon to a sprint?

Multi-channel communication? Marketing Fail

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