Tagged with BBC

Social Stewart: The socialisation of Stewart Lee (Video)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/emp/external/player.swf

I have previously blogged about the aim of brands seeking to use social to direct visitors to the target .com website and the ways in which they do this with content on a variety of platforms. The above video is a satirical take on the method of using social to direct viewers to the BBC on-demand iPlayer platform. It features the incredible talent of Stewart Lee, a dead pan UK comedian with a cyncial outlook on life and in this instance, social media marketing. Don’t enjoy it too much or we will all be out of a job.

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Take me to the .com!

http://cdn.livestream.com/grid/LSPlayer.swf?channel=smw_london&clip=pla_7d86ca14-1d18-43ca-b330-caf93254decb&color=0x006ccd&autoPlay=false&mute=false&iconColorOver=0xe4f2ff&iconColor=0xb5dcff

Watch live streaming video from smw_london at livestream.com

I had the pleasure of attending the Social Media and Sport event in London this week. It was an opportunity for a panel discussion from the BBC around how they expect their London 2012 Olympic coverage to be shaped by social media and there were also a number of presentations from the RFU, Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC as to how social is working for them.

It is this London Derby of social media that I wish to focus on. Both teams all laid out their strategy for all to see and there was natural commonality in some areas but there were two distinct routes to the end goal (Disclaimer: This IS a pun, I have no shame)

The overall aim was to get the individual, the community, or the potential business partner to the .com destination site. All routes lead to the .com, if you will. Not an uncommon theme in many online marketing campaigns. Draw them in and nurture their interest, whip them into a frenzy of purchase behaviour and ensure a return visit or two along the way. A brand’s website must be all things to many men and or women.

The methods that the two teams used were underpinned by a series of aims that the social media functionality must deliver on. For example, the Chelsea objectives are to:

a)      Drive traffic to the .com site

b)      Generate revenue through social media

c)       Capture data

d)      Engagement

e)      Increase international reach.

Nothing too earth-shattering, I’m sure you will agree. Curiously, there was an interesting revelation (again, not an uncommon utterance from social marketers) that despite the objective and KPI of point (b), there was “NO BUDGET FOR SOCIAL”.

The key differentiator in Chelsea’s approach was the delivery of content – with players themselves reluctant to use Twitter and the other social channels – through the syndication of content from fan sites and the blogs of devout Chelsea fans, a regular flow of relevant, one-sided and impassioned content was fed into one destination that is curated by the club.

The Arsenal approach was based around similar objectives, although no disclosure of budget forthcoming, it was a different story as to how they go about galvanising interest and generating content around all things ‘The Gunners.’

a)      Keep .com relevant

b)      International reach and engagement

c)       Make fans part of the wider community

d)      Start conversation

It is easy to see how widespread adoption of social across the business makes these tasks easier for Arsenal. Arsenal have nearly enough tweeting footballers to put out a Twitter XI and this immediately brings in a closer interaction with the fans and cuts out the ‘journalistic middleman’. Yes, there have been ‘issues’ but as the Arsenal digital team point out, “The importance of having players on twitter outweighs the dangers.” The players do it because they want to, not because it is expected. Already they are 1-0 up on their opponents and are delivering relevant engagement that doesn’t have the hallmarks of being disingenuous.

The Arsenal approach was an altogether more coherent strategy based around seeding content to their various platforms as soon as it is available and  they neatly surmised this as “Being wherever you want to consume it”

For those of you that prefer your ball games with an irregularly shaped inflatable, the RFU were on hand to discuss their strategy too. This was another testament to the dedication and perseverance of a social marketer looking to make significant changes (for the greater good) in the face of a very traditional and “stuffy” establishment such as the governing body of Rugby Union.

The aims?

a)      Increase the number of people interested in the game

b)      Increase the numbers of those participating in the game

c)       Improve the quality and experience for fans

The RFU now offer “a digital package to drive people to the site”. So, there we are again, end destination is .com and around this is an online experience that involves the user and delivers what they want on the platform of their choosing. It was reassuring to hear that the RFU marketing activities are consistently put through the same model of Purpose (What are the specific goals?), Tools (Which channels will be utilised) and Strategy (How to resource these goals through the chosen tools).

Three approaches that all view the website as the place to direct people to, whether you agree this is the right end point or not, you can see how there are various paths to take to get there.

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BBC Jonathan Creek budget cuts leaked same day as Alan Davies book release-coincidence?

It doesn’t take Jonathan Creek to work out that the clumsy sleight of hand at work here was not that of Houdini, no the Harry who done it is in fact PR.

On the day that Alan Davies released his book ‘My Favourite People and Me 1978-1988,’ a collective of musings published by Michael Joseph, a prominently placed article about our tousled locks hero appeared on the BBC news homepage.

The story in question relates to the subtle slip of the tweet made by @alandavies1 that in order to pursue his role as JC he would be stomaching a 25% pay cut. Timing is everything, national press picks up on the story and voilà…coverage, a raised profile, book sales and much more…

It came to my attention yesterday that Alan Davies would be in Bristol come October as part of the fantastic Autumn programme put on by the Bristol Festival of Ideas. Perhaps I could discuss the PR strategy with the man himself or maybe his publishers could supply me with a copy of his book in advance of the event so I can ask him something, well, something Quite Interesting.

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BBC Test Match Special Ashes Cricket Widget

Simply brilliant mash-up from the BBC. The fact that the commentators and pundits, perhaps unfairly deemed to be ‘traditionalist stuffy types’ are on Twitter is making the game that much more accessible and taking it to a new audience, this Twitter feed widget is also a handy way of monitoring match progress. Hats off to the Beeb’s geeks
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The King of Pop is Dead; Long Live Merchandising

As perverse as it is, the death of Michael Jackson will be widely regarded by those out to make a buck as the perfect marketing platform. Marketing around an event is exactly the focus that is needed to drive sales. Some will view it as sickening cynicism so close to the event of his passing but it has been said before that death can be the greatest career move in terms of finance generation.

The upcoming series of gigs at London’s O2 were in part somewhat likely to have added to the downfall of MJ but were essential in order to pay off the vast debts he had accrued in life. For those who paid for their tickets through legitimate sources, a refund will be forthcoming. For those who paid through the nose on Ebay and by other means-a refund may not be so readily available. Now this isnt attributable to the power of marketing, but it would be a safe bet to see ticket sales of the concerts increase slightly even in death. Why would anyone want to part with serious money for something that has no return? This is where we come round to the memorabilia bandwagon that was taking a good oiling to the axle during the hours of confusion over whether or not the death of Michael Jackson was truth or hearsay.

It is known from a friendly source, HMV issued an e-mail that was in the Inbox of branch manager’s across the nation come Friday morning that any Michael Jackson stock should be moved to the front of house and that additional stocks would be in place for the weekend.

Of course, much like radio stations across the land, the only playlists in stores that sold Jackson products were the songs of Michael Jackson through the years. The weekend’s online commercial activity appears to have been dominated by the sale of his music. Back catalogue packages on iTunes saw Jackson’s chart ranking soar akin to his physical format success in his prime. By Sunday Jacko was topping nearly every possible chart.

According to CNN, “Almost 20,000 items were up for sale after his death on the popular auction site eBay, where collectors could snap up everything from the rare to the ridiculous.”

As of Saturday morning, the BBC had shipped out a team to LA (despite the fact they have one based there already) to cover the public mourning and invited a street dance troupe to perform a tribute-said dancers were all wearing various boxfresh Jackson t-shirts bearing messages of ‘RIP’ and ‘We Miss You.’ It is dificult to put a finger on what may have been the more likely reality-was merchandise printed up before death or was it a frighteningly rapid turn around of product conception to product launch?

As a tweet by Harriet Crosse (Director of Bristol PR Specialists 72point) explained, for those in the PR game looking for column inches come the first Saturday after his death, they need not bother chasing around after journos and editors. On that Saturday, in many instances, the first 10+ pages of tabloids were devoted to the troubled star and his demise.

As a Royal wedding sees commerative plates and other related frippery and tat become common place in shops and newspaper’s readers offers, a Michael Jackson plate may not be too far off.

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