Archive
Year: 2013
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Are We Becoming Too Moany?
August 13, 2013
A look at whether social media is enabling bad consumer behaviour… We love social media. Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. All major brands are there and accepting user feedback (if they value the long term success potential of their company, that is). Like it or not, these platforms have provided the empowered consumer with a tool, which they can use anytime to their best advantage. Your ISP dumps you and you can’t get online, tweet @Mwebguy. You’ve...
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Crossing Over
August 8, 2013
Many see it as a sell out or crossing over to the dark side. As I write this blog watching the Proteas play Pakistan, wishing I was there covering the match, I begin to realise that all is not lost especially with the era of social media and blogging. Yes indeed I am that sports girl looking to commentate and analyse the latest sports coverage; yet, now I work in the world of PR...
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Big Data is Useless
August 6, 2013
In an age where everyone publishes and creates information, passively or actively – Big Data exists, and it does so whether we want it to or not, and whether companies invest in it or not. Everything we do online and some of the stuff we don’t, whether we are aware of it or not, creates data. Our searches, our emails, our calls, our transactions, even smart devices create data about what we do, say and...
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I Belong in PR
August 1, 2013
At about the same time as the office started buzzing about “The Louise Marsland event on PR trends”, I got some valuable advice from Van Baard. Van has been around so her advice would be pretty valuable. She said to me “Get involved in traditional media. Understand traditional media. Do not isolate yourself within the silo that is Social Media or Digital because you will always approach it from a marketer’s perspective.” Confusing much? Let’s...
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FleishmanHillard South Africa Launches Innovative Crisis Communications Methodology for the Digital Age
July 31, 2013
Cross-Industry Experts and Cutting-Edge Digital Tools Provide Global Protection for Clients’ Reputation, Staying Ahead of Social Media Johannesburg, July 31, 2013 — FleishmanHillard (FH) announced today the expansion of its global crisis practice with agency-certified global experts applying a new, proprietary methodology against the most complex crises. Labeled as ARC (Assess, Resolve and Control) the methodology is unique to FleishmanHillard and will be rolled out locally. “FleishmanHillard’s global crisis practice is driven by one simple...
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The Oscar Dilemma
July 29, 2013
South Africans continue to be bombarded with news coverage pertaining to the Oscar Pistorius case and we can only expect it to heat up in the weeks prior to his next court appearance on 19th August this year. Granted, the news cycle did slow down following his bail hearing on 22nd February but I did smile to myself as the juggernaut of photographic exposés and documentaries started appearing prior to his court appearance on 4th...
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When You’re 140 Keystrokes Away From a Corporate Crisis
July 18, 2013
Written by Harald Simons If you are a corporate leader of a multinational company today, and aim to protect your reputation for the long term, you need to ask yourself two questions: Are we nimble, and are we quick? A little less fairy-tale and a lot more true: Are we properly organized, and can we respond in time when faced with a crisis? If you still rely on manuals that are over six months old...
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For the Love of Coco Pops
July 2, 2013
Target audience! Target audience! Target audience! Words we use loosely yet rarely understand. Over the last few years it has become increasingly evident that the consumer is holding all the cards and communication agencies are left waiting for them to make their next move. Based on previous research Why Generation Y? we know we are dealing with a market that loves Coco Pops today, hates it tomorrow and can’t live without it by Sunday. How...
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Blurred Lines
June 27, 2013
Cave paintings…smoke signals…conch shells…horns…passing ships…messenger pigeons…town criers & more… Since homo-sapiens-sapiens emerged on this planet as news-worthy and news-creating creatures…we have been finding ways of sharing news with those around us...
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Who Moved My Consumer?
June 25, 2013
So a client of ours asks me last week, “What do I think are the 3 biggest consumer trends right now?” Rattling off a few – I realised just how many trends there are and realised that I am not entirely convinced that there is in-fact a ‘top 3’. To highlight a few; market segmentation or analysis has moved away from only using LSM’s to include audience profiling using tools such as New Urban Tribes...