Poetry Please

It had been all quiet on the blog of late. Apologies to all (both) visitors – the occasional (Emma) or the avid (my Dad). All this writing-for-work malarky has done wonders for my professional motivation but has killed my blogs stone dead. So I’m returning with a new, hope-to-make regular, feature.

Not long ago I found a spot of verse-writing a healthy vent for some of life’s more testing trials. I’m a habitual reader but poetry has never really floated my boat – still less have I written than read. That said, I recently found a therapeutic benefit in thrashing through emotional reactions to a situation in verse form: it provides a creative outlet to absorb all the drama, prompting more considered conclusions back in the real world. Who knew? Endless historical battles and bloodshed of yore could possibly have been assuaged by sworn enemies simply putting quill to paper before jumping on their horse.

It was soon after this that I came across a bunch of little ditties I’d written through the ages. Whilst they certainly won’t be wresting Carol Ann Duffy‘s position from her any time soon, I thought they might as well see the light of day.

(Safe to say the same fate does not await my other recent discovery – my first novel The Rabbits written, so the jacket art boasts, aged five and three quarters. It seems that in 1991, those all-important three quarters could have been difference between Booker-worthy work and literary obscurity. No, that mortifying gem lies safely tucked away on a shelf.)

Anyhow, I’ll be dropping a few verses on the blog over the next few weeks. Hope you enjoy.

Social media one-pager

On appreciating Skyrim

Well, less appreciation for Skyrim and more for Lemur Lady, who has so well encapsulated what it means to be widowed in reality by this world of total un-reality, that I’ve had to re-post it here.

For those (blessed) un-initiated few, Skyrim is the latest in immersive role play video gaming (think dragons, magic, castles, lots of aimless wandering through medieval landscapes etc. etc.). If your housemate/boyfriend/husband enters this realm, prepare to live alone. Oh and did I mention it NEVER ENDS?

At the time, I read Lemur Lady’s post and it thoroughly tickled me, to quite a disproportionate degree given that until that point I didn’t even know what Skyrim was, let alone had seen it in action.

Now that I have experienced it (well, second-hand as I watch my better half slowly plunge into its mysteriously addictive depths night after night), I find Lemur Lady’s words so pant-wettingly accurate, I have to re-post them here.

What not to say to someone who is playing Skyrim:

“Gosh. That is loud”

“How are you carrying all that stuff? That’s ridiculous.”

“Is that you on fire?”

“You’ve bought a house? I thought this was medieval warfare, not the Sims.”

“Awesome, a dragon! Wait…don’t…don’t hit it! LEAVE THE DRAGON ALONE!!! What’s it done to you? Have you any idea how endangered those things are?”

“She is so not appropriately dressed for that sort of weather”

“Haven’t you already done this bit? Twice? Oh. It was you on fire”

“Surely once you’ve wandered around one dungeon looking for an amulet, you’ve wandered round them all?”

“There’s an awful lot of walking in this, isn’t there?”

“Is something going to happen soon?”

“You’re going shopping now? This is like real life. Only with more walking.”

“Why does everyone have so many consonants in their names? It’s like they’ve been picked out of a Scrabble bag.”

“Can I unplug *this* one to plug my laptop in? What do you mean I’m in the way of the screen? Oh look, you’re on fire again.”

Source: Knitting My Own Yoghurt

I’m slowly working my way through the list.

Do check out the rest of Lady Lemur’s blog, and while you’re at it, browse her awesome collection of hand-made wares as well. Don’t mind the scary-looking lemur. I’m pretty sure he’s harmless.

Unlike Skyrim. Which will eat you alive.

 

*You can follow Lemur Lady’s antics on Twitter here. Be prepared to giggle.

* You can purchase Skyrim here. Be prepared to commit social suicide.

* Fellow Skyrim widows should also read this. Evidently, you are not alone.

 

In search of the greatest sports marketing moment

(c) NFL / Getty Images

It’s not often that I will post about work-related content here, but the latest debate raging over on Synergy’s blog is actually pretty thought-provoking (well, for those in the sports industry at least).

Any sports fans out there remember when Twenty20 was first ‘invented’? Or when Nike burst onto the scene helping Michael Jordan hit his jump shot? Or even, for the veteran fans amongst you, when NFL was first broadcast on our TV screens?

Well, whatever you think the biggest moment was, Synergy wants to hear about it. We’ve started a bit of a debate going by naming an initial top 12 (below), but we’re a friendly, modest bunch and open to suggestions of things we’ve missed. Have a look at the below, and let us know what you think by commenting on the original blog post here.

And eventually we’ll put up a poll and get to the official #1. But only with your help. So what’s it to be? Let us know…

1. 1960 – a promising American golfer called Arnold Palmer shook hands over a representation deal with his friend and Yale law grad, Mark McCormack. This handshake was the start of IMG and birth of modern sports marketing.
2. 1968 – After the NFL and AFL merged in 1966 the first two championship games between the two winners were called, snappily, the NFL-AFL World Championship. KC Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt then came up with the term Super Bowl for the game after seeing his grandson playing with a Super Ball, (a densely elasticated ball) and a global phenomenon was born.
3. 1976 – already prevalent abroad, Kettering Town became the first British football club to have a sponsor on its shirt – the deal may only have lasted four games but it changed the rules in the UK. The forward thinking brand? Kettering Tyres.
4. 1978 – Horst Dassler and Patrick Nally created a sponsorship model for world events starting with The FIFA World Cup that other rights holders have followed ever since.
5. 1978 – Bernie Ecclestone became chief executive of the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) which culminated in Ecclestone securing the right for FOCA to negotiate television contracts turning F1 into the global financial phenomenon it is today.
6. 1979 – Jack Nicklaus argues successfully for the inclusion of European (rather than just British) players in the Ryder Cup. This turned a struggling, one-sided tournament into what is today probably the most significant global event in golf.
7. 1981 – the first major PPV boxing match between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns was screened by Viacom Cablevision, the event sold over 50% of its subscribers for the fight and a new form of sports viewing was born.
8. 1984 – Nike, a struggling sports shoe company, signed rookie Michael Jordan and created the first shoe named after a player – The Air Jordan.
9. 1985 – Michael Payne restructured the IOC Marketing Programme creating TOPs – the building block of the most lucrative sponsorship format in the world.
10. 1992 – The English First Division clubs resigned en-masse from the Football League and formed the Premier League which is now the most watched and most lucrative football league in the world with the format copied across the globe.
11. 1995 – The first ever Extreme Games (later changed to X Games) was held with the backing of ESPN – it catapulted fringe sports into the mainstream, bringing with it vast corporate investment.
12. 2003 – The ECB introduced the world to Twenty20 Cricket via the Twenty20 Cup between counties, the mould breaking game has gone on to be adopted across the globe with IPL changing the financial face of the sport.

Wordle view of the first Leaders’ Debate

It was quite an amazing social media experience last night being part of the first Leaders’ Debate, shown on ITV1 (or ITV1HD as they are trying to get us all watching).

Twitter went completely mental in an effort to keep up, offering up some quite interesting stats by the end on all those twittering away using the #leadersdebate hashtag:

total tweets: 184,396

average frequency: 29.06 tweets per second

total tweeters: 36,483

Comments on everything from policies, key arguments and debate tensions to the dated set design, the increasing panicky refereeing from Alistair Stewart and the colour of the candidates’ ties. Largely it was pure banter, making the whole process not just informative but hugely entertaining.

Anyhoo, main reason for the post was a cute little Wordle cloud, sent out on Twitter this morning by @benayers, Social Media Manager at ITV.com. An interesting visual representation showing the focus of each of the three in their commentary. And here it is:

Socialnomics – putting an ROI on successful social media campaigns

After my great digital comms/social media training run by the eConsultancy‘s James Matthewson earlier this week, I was prompted to go out and find some concrete stats about the success of brand involvement in social media campaigns. Just came across this fab little Socialnomics video, from the author of the Socialnomics book, Eric Qualman, and however much you think you already know about brands marketing in this space, it really is worth a watch.

Time and time again we find clients hesitant to relinquish control over their brand in the interests of entering the social media space, yet there are countless examples – as the video will show you – of big and small brands who have made the leap (or even tiny step in some cases) and for whom it has paid huge dividends.

However, of course it is far from fool-proof and companies should not throw all caution to the wind, implementing social media marketing strategies with abandon. In fact, social’s greatest strength is potentially its greatest danger – that of instant amplification. Whilst it means that campaigns done well can reap huge rewards in a very short space of time, it also means that those done badly can rapidly spiral out of control in the worst way, with irreparable damage caused to the brand (see the online legend of Kryptonite bike locks, the shining example of one man’s blog causing an estimate loss of $10m).

(A good number of examples of crisis communications in the YouTube era can be found here.)

But there are still a lot of brands out there who have a lot to learn, and they could do a lot worse than start with some Socialnomics.

The iPad – will it blend?

Squeals of excitement yesterday at an Engine Digital Training day provided by the eConsultancy, when trainer James Matthewson revealed his shiney new iPad – fresh out of the box from his trip to the States.

I have long been in love with all things Apple, and finally it seems I have the ultimate toy – a Kindle combined with an iPod Touch. It was just as pretty as expected, and very impressive video/picture quality. Above all it was fun to use. Sadly the app store wasn’t connecting in the UK so no books had been uploaded yet, and I’m still keen to see how well the books read on screen without inducing screen fatigue after long periods. But I’m optimistic.

But in all testable respects it seemed a smashing piece of kit. Web browsing was just as fluid as the iPhone but obviously with much greater visibility, although there remains the issue with a lack of Flash compatilbilty. Even the keyboard had good usability. Though I have read recommendations for the external keyboard when using it for prolonged blogging, I feel this just turns it into a regular Notebook, but with a rather unwieldy piece of extra kit attached. I’d be hoping to blog away using just the iPad interface – that’s the cool factor.

And look who else has jumped onto the iPad bandwagon? Our friend in the white coat at BlendTec. Posted just over a week ago on 5th April, the YouTube video has already received over 5,ooo,ooo views. Wowzers.

But will it blend?

The Official NFL Widget

Look what I added to the blog today? Now there’s no excuse for not keeping up with the latest NFL scores. Shame Sky Sports don’t have one here so that we can get the games displayed in UK time. Get on the case guys.

Feeling the love for Dorset Cereals

A re-kindling of my love for Dorset Cereals this morning has led to an unadulterated plug for the brand. Not a product that I can regularly afford to buy (more due to the volume I would consume than the price), it was from coming home to the parental Surrey seat that reminded me how fab they are.

Fortunately for me, parents keep plentiful stock of the World’s Best Cereal™ – so now I am never without. Next time you’re perusing the breakfast aisle, give them a go. You won’t regret it. You know all those healthy cereal brands who claim to be ‘packed with real fruit pieces!’, but you actually find yourself scraping the bottom of the box for five measly freeze-dried anonymous pieces of what could be strawberries/cranberries/raspberries but you’re not quite sure? Well these guys put them all to shame.

They also have quite a cool little website, which you can check out here. In terms of brand-feel, they are slightly Innocent-like in their quirky tone of voice and inherent healthy vibe. Obviously they taste great too (I’m not sure they could cram more fruit in if they tried), but always on the look-out for cool brand images, I’ve been impressed with their noticeable cut-through in an increasingly cluttered market over the last three years or so.

Oh, and if you happen to think this blog is the best thing since sliced bread (or maybe since packet cereal), then you can nominate me in Dorset’s Little Blog Awards too. (shameless plugging over)

Why we heart Jack Wills even more than before

I blog, Tweet and share on Facebook most of the cool stuff I come across on a daily basis. According to Rupert Murdoch, this makes me a ‘digital native’, but whatever label you want to apply, today it totally paid off.

As a long-term fan of the Jack Wills brand, my support of the British fashion label has, over the years, transcended both online and offline platforms – along with a lot of my closest friends. We shop with Jack, we party with Jack, and when we do, we tell people about it.

Take the annual Varsity Polo tournament at Windsor (JW’s sole, perfectly conceived sponsorship property): we’ll not only attend the event, but with a desire to soak up every last drop of JW goodness that can be squeezed from the day, we’ll also make sure we hit the renowned pre- and post- parties. Each of these supporting social events is a prime opportunities for JW product sampling, mobile shop units and giveaways – all wrapped up in a perfectly ‘fabulously British’ parcel of fun that completely encapsulates the brand’s personality.

But it doesn’t end there. Like us, each attendee (usually residing firmly within the 16-24 age bracket and thus 100% digitally native) will tweet, blog, share links, upload photos and update statuses continuously in the run up to and aftermath of each fully branded event – therefore spreading the word to their like-minded friends and colleagues, all of whom sit slap bang in the middle of the JW target demographic. They in turn will add Jack as a friend on Facebook, become a fan of the JW page and follow their every update on Twitter… and so it goes on.

However, little did I know until yesterday just how savvy the JW marketing team could be. Evidently all too aware of their mini ready-made army of (free) brand advocates online, they have decided to recognise and reward those who share the JW love.

Having over 2,000 followers on Twitter, they follow themselves only 21 (to date) – including, as of yesterday, me. This in itself (for an avid brand fan) is pretty cool in the Twitter-verse as it’s a stamp of approval from a brand you love – especially if you’re one of few. But, hey presto, at 8am this morning a special delivery package arrived at my door… a surprise thank you gift from the JW team no less. Complete with a handwritten note (-’Just to say thanks for being a fan! Keep the word up… Love Jack x’-), I had been sent a whole collection of JW goodies for doing no more than shouting about the things I love.

What is so clever about this smart move from them, is that not only I am now pretty much a fan for life (or at least, the foreseeable future), but they know that I will make sure everyone knows about it. For them, a minimal outlay has cemented the loyalty of one particularly vociferous fan, knowing that I would return the favour ten-fold in brand advocacy for them.

Naturally I did: by 9am I had updated my Facebook status and Twitter feed accordingly. By 10am I had three messages from other JW fans asking how I managed to get presents from Jack. And now I’ve posted this blog post as well. Offline, I’ve also told pretty much everyone I know.

For Jack Wills, engaging with their audience using the platforms that will give them the biggest share of voice is absolutely key. But what did surprise me is how they strive to show their fans how much they are valued - turning their online advocacy into currency for tangible, offline rewards. Cute, surprising recognition for those who love them best will, in the long run, grow their business exponentially.

No Jack, thank YOU.