12 posts tagged “pr”

Skittles have dropped their Twitter Search homepage thingy-majig which they launched yesterday.  Looks like one too many distasteful (excuse the pun) jokes made them see sense!  Now when you go to www.skittles.com you'll be treated to their Facebook page instead.

This is what it looked like on Monday the 2nd...

Found via Mashable via Twitter

An 81-year-old disabled pensioner got charged what amounts to £100 for a pair of AA batteries, at least according to ITN.

Not quite sure why none of his family members thought about changing the batteries for him nor why BT thought it would be okay to charge so much for the service (surely they realised it would get media coverage?)

Anyway here's the link: Pensioner slams BT over £100 charge

I'm not in PR or advertising and have no idea how things like SEO work.  Even so, I'm willing to learn and willing to experiment.  As I have neither the funds nor the knowledge to promote brand 'me', I'm trying a few unconventional things.  This includes piggybacking on things such as the Skittles/Twitter thing.  Yet at the same time being mindful that I don't want to annoy or spam anyone.  It's a fine line, but a good learning experience!

So, what's this Skittles/Twitter thing I speak of?  Well the Skittles folk have turned over skittles.com to Twitter!  Or, to be more precise, Twitter Search (with 'skittles' as the keyword).  What's so amazing about that?  Well, any time anyone mentions Skittles on Twitter they appear on skittles.com!  As skittles.com is increasingly getting more hits as more and more people wake up to this, that's a hell of a lot of eyeballs reading those tweets.  One can make the most of that by making a really funny tweet with 'skittles' somewhere in it (and if it's relevant, all the better!)

Getting more eyeballs helps and can lead to more quality (and/or like-minded) followers on Twitter.  Plus more hits to a blog/site.. which really isn't a 'plus' in most cases, but the main point.  Hmm, I think the fact that I added that as a 'plus' would seem to suggest that subconsciously (and now, er, consciously) I regard Twitter as more important than a website or blog...

This is how I imagine the pitch went:

You need to look like you're against premium rate scams, yeah?  And that you're educating the yoof about them?  Okay, cool.  But the companies that you "regulate" sometimes break the rules?  Oh, not sometimes, but often?  Really?  And some of you guys are involved with these outfits?  Oh dear.  Will it be a problem?  Oh God no, we like a challenge!

After a can of Red Bull or two...

Right, okay, yeah, we're ready.  So, yeah, how about we make up some lesson plans for lazy teachers?  You with me?  These will explain how great premium rate services are and how they alone will help Gordo get through the credit crisis.  Right, remind me, how much is the industry worth?  Over a billion?!  No shit!  We totally get why you don't want that gravy train drying up!  Maybe we're in the wrong industry (chortle, chortle).

So, that's the 'how ringtones are saving the economy' angle... Next, let's teach the kids how fun it is to make money this way.  They already think they can get rich quick by going on Big Brother, playing football, or by going 'gangsta', they'll lap it up!  Do we have any success stories that we can use?  Y'know, like some kid from the wrong side of the tracks that's made a bucketload from crappy tones.  You do?  Excellent.  They're up for it?  Yeah?  Okay cool!  Oh, you've fined the kid's company in the past?  He breached the codes laid down by you?  Opps, oh well, whose gonna check that?

Right, I think that's pretty much it.  We'll get an MP or two on board, a school or two, a sprinkling of Government quangos and we know, just like the yoof, the broadcasters and websites will lap it up and basically repeat verbatim what releases we give them.  Job done!

That's just my over-active imagination, it was probably nothing like that - one would hope!

I've had so many governmental agencies (on both sides of the pond), law firms, PR companies, network operators and now risk management looking at my premium rate scam posts that I've lost count.

Hi guys!  Good afternoon.  Maybe if we had proper regulation and decent laws there would be no risk to manage, eh?

Yesterday I received a letter from my bank and enclosed with it a returned cheque.  The cheque that Spread Media gave me bounced (as I suspected).  David Shepard's Spread Media and Spread Mobile have already shut up shop and it looks like it's just a matter of time before his other worthy enterprises do the same.

Despite him still having my money, he's not a very good scamster!  I mean all that effort, for what?  Although it must be great scamming people when you don't need to trick them, just send premium rate messages to a bunch of random numbers and hey presto.  The likes of mBlox make it possible.

Anyway, Hotwire PR and mBlox, you wanna help me get my money back and give me some answers while you're at it?  Cheers guys.  As for PhonepayPlus... don't get me started!

Just received a reply in response to my email to John Kreuzer, the guy in charge of the mBlox account at Silicon Valley PR firm McGrath/Power.  It's short and sweet.  Well short, anyway.  On the face of it, it looks like they're beginning to listen (I know already they like to read... well my blog posts anyway!)

Hi Anthony,

Thanks for forwarding this to us. We sent your email directly to mBlox and hope that you receive a quick resolution to your situation.

Thanks again!

John

Does kinda seem like it's a bog standard, "we haven't really read your email and probably haven't passed it on verbatim" kinda response.  But, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, 'cos that's the guy I am.  Anyway, I enjoy reading his blog and he seems a nice enough guy.  Shame he's stuck representing mBlox, surely McGrath/Power have far more worthy clients that could benefit from his skills?

It would seem we have quite a lot in common John, I notice you read SMStextnews*, Engadget and enjoy The Daily Show and Colbert too.  Damn fine, damn fine.  Let the truthiness commence...

*you should fly over to the next Unlimited Drinks, perhaps get the client to pick up the tab...

...by the ways hi guys!

The Register has a piece entitled 'Nokia: Our Community is the best money can buy'

It's a wide ranging look at Nokia and its interaction with the world at large.  Near the end of the piece they look at the Ambassador program.  Maybe they've got a bit of a point there, I don't know.  I'm not part of that, but I do get trial devices from them via WOM World and have had a few S60 freebies as well.  It doesn't stop me from criticising their products or services though.  And WOM World continue to loan me items even if what I write isn't the most flattering.

Whether giving the likes of me a freebie or a device to trial is value for money for Nokia is open to debate.  I have no idea how many people read my blog.  I've got Statcounter, but I don't believe that's set up right and it doesn't count RSS feeds or when posts end up elsewhere somehow or other.