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May 6th, 2011 by Speed Budapest (Matt)

Melody Hossaini most talked about Apprentice contestant

Series  7  of The Apprentice kicks off next week and already the press and the public are getting excited about it. With so much online chatter taking place about Lord Sugar’s new show and who will be competing in it I thought it’d be interesting to see which contestant has had the biggest impact on the social media world.

A quick and dirty analysis of what people have been saying online during the last three days shows that youth organisation founder, Melody Hossani, is the most talked about contestant so far, racking up four times as many comments as estate agent manager, Alex Britez Cabral, and executive assistant, Helen Louise Milligan.

However as my search only looked for mentions of “Apprentice” and each contestant’s full name, the results could be skewed if people don’t mention the contestant’s full name or the TV programme. Regardless of this I think the results give a fair indication of what conversations are taking place on the web.

Interestingly, the most talked about person yesterday was Susan Ma, who was mentioned more times on Thursday than on Tuesday when the names of this year’s contestants were actually announced by the BBC. It could just be a coincidence, but the fact that yesterday’s surge in mentions coincided with The Sun’s decision to publish pictures of her in a bikini, does make me wonder…

Beachwear aside, it will be very interesting to see how the social media chatter about each of the contestants changes as the series progresses and how it correlates with Lord Sugar’s decisions in the boardroom.

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May 6th, 2011 by Sophie Hodgson

The whole truth and… oh hang on

‘Let’s ensure that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet’ is a well-used cliché in PR. But an important one. To convey a message and ensure it is credible and trustworthy, consistency is key.

When you have multiple people with multiple accounts, things get messy and you find yourself getting tripped up with what can seem like small details. Just ask the US Government. It’s again changed its account of how Bin Laden was killed and the President and the CIA embarrassingly contradicted each other earlier this week about whether or not photos of a dead Bin Laden would be released.

Whilst the President is off attending well organised and emotional events at Ground Zero, the communication around Bin Laden’s death is becoming increasingly confused and contradictory. He’s in danger of looking like he wasn’t in possession of all the facts and that could be a problem later on down the line for his credibility, giving election rivals an open shot at a man who has put openness and honesty at the heart of his presidency.

If Obama is in any doubt about how quickly he needs to ensure everyone is telling the same story, he should perhaps give ol’ Tony Blair a call. Although I doubt TB’s tip ‘wear more make up on TV it gives them something else to talk about’ is going to be quite the golden nugget of advice that Obama is looking for. 

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January 28th, 2011 by John Brown

#BBCQT – Better than the real thing?

Question Time (TV series)
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Last night I sat on the sofa, with a mug of tea in hand, turned the TV on and waited for the rage to wash over me. What was I watching? BBC Question Time of course!

Nothing beats an hour’s worth of screaming at the box as politicians, authors, PR folk and Apprentice candidates (WTF?) try and win over our hearts and minds with the best soundbites media training can buy.

Actually something does beat that. That something is #BBCQT. Because of Twitter I’m not only enjoying a good rant at an inanimate object, I’m actually airing my views to real people who in turn are dishing out their, sometimes rib crackingly funny, opinions. In fact, it’s as if #BBCQT is our own little version of the show.

I know I’m not alone when I say I get a little warm feeling inside when one of my sarcastic #BBCQT remarks gets re-tweeted a few times. I imagine it’s the same feeling as the guests get when they receive a ripple of applause from the audience.

But perhaps more importantly than the benefit it has on my own ego, #BBCQT is actually making the show more engaging and entertaining than ever before. Last night’s show was, by all accounts, distinctly average.

The guests were either dull or irritating, the questions were very tabloid (a quarter of the show dedicated to Andy Gray’s sacking is a bit much) and it seemed to drag on a bit. However, over the course of the hour, the show’s hashtag received 12,000 tweets. Katie Hopkins, a woman that up until last night I didn’t know existed was even trending for a moment; which I’m sure will secure her a place on Dancing Whilst Singing and Basket Weaving on Ice.

Despite the very grey programme, I was having a thrilling time reading some hilarious comments and having some banter with a few friends as we batted about our thoughts on the show. Without that community, I would have switched off and gone to bed after 10 minutes of enduring Will Self’s monologues.

But I was hooked.  I needed more fuel for my tweeting and wanted to see the fantastic comments from others unfold. Basically Twitter saved Auntie’s arse last night – I’d be writing a very different blog post had the community not been there.

Perhaps some clever sod in Broadcasting House knew that by putting odd guests on the panel, Twitter would be buzzing with #BBCQT, potentially attracting even more to next week’s virtual gathering.

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December 2nd, 2010 by Helen Beavis

#digitalapprentice: Grads-we want you

If it’s good enough for Lord Sugar then it’s good enough for us.  Speed’s digital apprentice day is in full swing. Which got us thinking.  Would be great to give some young, aspiring and talented people out there the opportunity to get involved.

The day is all about immersing ourselves in the digital world – looking at how we take a brand and use online tools to help deliver hype, awareness, participation and commercial gain.

If you’re interested in working in a London PR agency to gain some experience then get in touch TODAY and tell us why you should be hired.  Rules: in no more than 140 characters.  Enter via: comment on blog post or Twitter @speedcomms

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October 18th, 2010 by Helen Beavis

Daybreak or give us a break?

Taking a big slice of column inches over the last month has been the slow demise of Daybreak.  And still it goes on.  So, is it really the end of the line for the unsultry duo, or just a question of implementing some quick & clever reputation-building tactics?

Jon Horsley gives a number of suggestions for how ITV could save the ailing show but none that actually focus on ITV sticking by its guns and putting plan in place to bolster its own PR efforts.  Typically, we’re quick to put the boot in to anything or anyone given a big fanfare.  But knowing how the UK media works, ITV’s PR machine surely has a plan in place for such an issue?

You’d hope so but as yet there doesn’t seem to be much sign?

So, here are a couple of suggestions for trying to change perception with what they’ve got rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water:

  1. Harness the audience: ITV needs to change the conversation by working with the viewing fans it does have.  He who shouts loudest
  2. Amplify the content: It’s an entertainment breakfast show and we know there’s an audience eager to consume.  Better pre-promotion of content (and better content) to the right audience in the right places
  3. Re-build the personalities: TV demands great stories so build great stories around the personalities so people get a chance to get to know them better.  Tell them what they’re like rather than allowing people to perceive who they think they might be.

What do you think?  Is Daybreak a show that can be turned around?

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September 22nd, 2010 by Abbie Waller

Reality made the Notting Hill star?

Do you enjoy a good documentary? Look forward to a bit of reality TV? Obsessively check into social media channels? Well then Seven Days could be just the thing you’ve been waiting for.

Seven Days launches tonight and is Channel 4’s new documentary series which is claims will break down the old rules of reality TV and which it no doubts hopes will do for the next decade what Big Brother did for the last. There are 25 ‘contributors’ to the documentary/reality show who represent the ‘ordinary’ people living and working in Notting Hill. The contributors will be filmed over the course of seven days and on the final day an hour long show airing the preceding week’s activities will broadcast on Wednesday night.

So far, so what right? Well, here comes the social media bit…

Members of the public will be encouraged to interact with all the stars using an online service called ChatNav. ChatNav will collate social media conversations about the show (Twitter, Facebook and YouTube channels are already up and running) to determine which characters the producers will focus on over the next seven days – popularity will be represented by the increasing (or decreasing) size of the characters image on the screen. For those with the smallest images, being eliminated from future filming is a very real possibility. In addition to determining the focus over the show, viewers will also have the power to comment on decisions the characters need to make in relation to their personal, social and work lives. According to Channel 4, this makes the viewer not just an editor, but an active participant.

Sounds like an interesting proposition and if it can mirror even a tenth of the popularity of Big Brother, it will do very well indeed. Let the experiment commence…

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September 17th, 2010 by Clare English

'Speeps' Profiles – Abbie Waller

This week, the Geordie publicity princess bares all.

Q. What was the first record/CD/tape you bought and do you still have it?

A. I have to admit that I actually bought Belinda Carlisle’s greatest hits and although I misplaced it over the years, I recently purchased it again from iTunes. Heaven is indeed a place on Earth.

Q. How would you describe your dress sense?

A. Tricky question this – glamorous, trendy and inspirational? …No?! Well maybe just inoffensive will do.

Q. What is the strangest thing that working with Nicky Savage has taught you?

A. That no matter how bad things get, putting on a funny regional accent will almost always make you feel better

Q. What is the flimsiest garment you have ever worn on a night out down the Bigg Market?

A. Well less is always more down the Bigg Market and I do distinctly remember a few winter nights heading out ‘doon the toon’ with little more than a mini skirt and a strapless little top on – coats were strictly for wimps. Classy I know. You can take the girl out of the north east but you can’t take the north east out of the girl.

Q. (Bad taste, but) If you were stuck in a mine for several months waiting to be rescued, which Speed people would you want in there with you?

A. How can I possibly choose among you all – several months without seeing your lovely smiling faces each and every day? Speed comes as a package I think.

Q. Best advice you can give someone starting in PR?

A. Altogether now… BE PROACTIVE! Opportunities won’t just come to you so be prepared to go out and find them – and develop a thick skin because there’s sure to be a lot of knockbacks on the way!

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August 26th, 2010 by Clare English

'Speeps' Profiles – Marie Efthymiou

This week, Marie Efthymiou (phonetic spelling available on request) entertains us with holiday anecdotes and suggestions as to how one might explain ‘PR’ to a four year old.

You’ve just got back from your holiday. Where did you go?

I had the most amazing two weeks! We started in not so sunny San Francisco (the best bit was visiting Alcatraz). And then onto Vegas which was out of this world and one massive party! And ended up in LA, which was all about soaking up the sun and celeb hunting (I didn’t see any, but I do have some very interesting snaps of Jennifer Aniston, Simon Cowell and Orlando Bloom’s front gates if you’re interested?)

What was your best meal?

I’m embarrassed to say but it was actually in a Greek restaurant on Long Beach – you see we’re not to dissimilar to you Brits, us Greeks will always sniff out the lamb kebabs.

I also became a little obsessed with their pancakes for breakfast. Everyday I ordered a short stack buttermilk pancake with maple syrup and bacon (very yummy, but thank goodness I don’t live there as I would be HUGE, it was near to impossible to find anything that resembled fresh fruit or veg).

What’s the one thing you have done on a holiday that would most shock us?

Being the good Greek girl that I am, I didn’t do anything that risqué or shocking. But I did take a liking to Harley’s and spent most of the time travelling around LA on one (on the back that is, there’s no ways I could control one of those big, bad boys).

How would you explain PR in three sentences to Steve Earls’ 4-year old?

We tell stories. And we try to make them as exciting as possible (which can sometimes be hard) so when we tell all the big bosses who work at the newspapers, magazines, TV and with computers they like them so much that they tell the whole wide world (well not always the whole world, sometimes just Basingstoke).

If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title would be?

Good Greek Girls Don’t Exist

Why are manholes round?

Well it’s pretty common knowledge that round tubes are the strongest and most material-efficient shape against the compression of the earth around them. And obviously we all already know that it also needs to be round as human beings have a roughly circular cross-section.

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August 5th, 2010 by Clare English

'Speeps' Profiles – Chris McCrudden

This week, Speed’s revered creative director, Chris McCrudden, talks rainbow socks, the definition of ‘fugly’ and why the best ideas in life often crop up in the bog.  (Some parts of this profile may have been edited to protect the guilty)

How is the leg?

Broken.

You head up the Creative Team here at Speed. Any pointers for those faced with a seemingly boring/conservative client and want to inject a bit of creativity and pizzazz into the account?

Mind-bending drugs. Seriously, did you know the ‘work’ and ‘play’ bits of your brain are diametrically opposed? You’re not going to come up with a wonderful idea staring at a screen – that’s why we always do brainstorms in the creative area. If you’re stuck, go for a walk, or the loo. You always have the best ideas in the bog.

What is the weirdest suggestion you have had in a brainstorm that a client has considered or gone ahead with?

A very early experiment with social media that involved blogging about office ‘ghost stories’, way back in the days when we still thought Livejournal was a good idea. Like its subject matter, it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

What would you consider to be your biggest achievement so far in your PR career?

Winning Symantec was pretty awesome. I wanted that account for years. Oh, and persuading Sir Ian McKellan, Michael Caine and Anna Ford to part with ties for a charity auction.

What is the most irritating consumer trend you are seeing today?

Not so much a trend as an idea that won’t die. Men wearing big cargo shorts and flip flops. Fugly. Do not do it.

That said, I’m totes hearting the shoulder padded jacket, skirt and t-shirt look that East End girls are working at the moment. It’s identical to what my Mum wore to work in the early 90s.

You are usually in close proximity of some historical tome. But what newspapers/mags/tv programmes do you regularly read/watch?

I don’t watch TV if I can help it, but have a shameful addiction to The Archers (a soap opera on Radio 4 about sheep farming, for the uninitiated). And that’s only for the gin soaked old fag hag who runs the pub. She’s amazing. Other than that I read National Geographic occasionally, and steal the consumer team’s copy of Pick Me Up (it’s only 79p) when I want handy household tips and true life features on spousal battery and incest.

We have seen your feet come in an array of colors. So what advice would you give the men at Speed when considering purchasing a pair of socks?

If you wear artificial fibres on your feet you deserve all the athlete’s foot you get. And never wear a tie and socks in the same colour – it’s too matchy-matchy.

If you could give Nick Bishop one gift what would it be?

My thanks for nagging me into actually finding out I have a broken leg.

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July 9th, 2010 by Chris McCrudden

From GMTV to WTF

GMTV
Image via Wikipedia

What does the word Daybreak mean to you? No, it isn’t the final chapter in the Twilight series. (Incidentally, does anyone else think they should change the strapline for that film to ‘One girl’s choice necrophilia and bestiality’?). It’s the new name for the new look GMTV. A fresh, vibrant approach to early morning television fronted by Christine Bleakley and Adrian Chiles.

VOM.

Now I have to confess I was never a fan of GMTV. While TV-am gave us the starchy pleasures of Anne Diamond (before she started looking a bit like Ann Widdecombe) and Wincey Willis, GMTV brought us little more than the  Fiona ‘don’t give your child the MMR vaccine’ Philips, and made stars of Eamonn Holmes, Tony Blair and Dr bleeding Hillary. Yes, Lorraine Kelly has been consistently marvellous. But this  is only for the baffling ‘Instant Glam’ makeovers she runs every Christmas where Sue, 38, a systems analyst from Barking is larded with sparkly eyeshadow and shoehorned into a sequinned batswing blouse.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that ITV, now the sole owner of GMTV after it bought Disney’s stake out last year (I’m assuming they no longer thought there was an animated feature in the Penny Smith story), wanted to refresh the format. After all that set’s been around since Anneka Rice was running around with a mobile phone the size of a washing machine strapped to her back, so it’s hardly breakfast telly for the iPhone generation.

But DAYBREAK!? Yes, the name has those vague, optimistic leanings that bad ad executives mistake for engagement, but that sans serif typeface and the purple colour scheme mean you couldn’t pass a Swedish crispbread between this brand identity and a chain of cheap motorway hotels. Mind you, the whiff of a Welcome Break just off the M6 might be just the right thing to reignite the kind of seedy sexual chemistry that kept British viewers grimly glued to breakfast television during the Anne and Nick years.

Oh, GMTV, you have consistently under-delivered and long may you do so. You don’t innovate, you mug the mid-market and year after year you convince the women of Britain that NEXT is worth shopping in. But nobody wants excitement at breakfast-time. And if they did, they wouldn’t be watching you.

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