Building on the ‘Stuff/Shit XX say meme’, Hunter PR in the US has created Stuff PR people say…

There are new examples of this meme growing by the minute. The one that kicked it off (at least I think):

Shit Girls say:

Hat tip – Mumbrella for alerting me to this.

I love riding waves. I really, really do. Having said that I have absolutely no desire to ride waves like the ones in the video below. I am however very happy to watch them on vimeo.

The waves in this video are the most intense I think I have ever seen. Imagine the rush you would get riding one of these bad boys.

Enjoy and please share, even people that don’t surf will appreciate this video.

More Surfing Videos

Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know is undoubtedly one of the stand-out Australian releases of 2011. However it seems that it is getting attention overseas as well if the cover below by Canadian band Walk Off the Earth is anything to go by.

The video features the band covering Gotye’s song  whilst all five of them play the one guitar. It is pretty impressive!

And just because it is a brilliant music clip, I’ve included the original Gotye video, which has been watched a whopping 33 million times!:

The last week has involved no tweets, few Facebook updates, absolutely no work emails and most importantly no stress.

I have been on holidays you see. Holidays that involved a road trip to Victoria, to visit old friends;  surf uncrowded waves; drink beer in the sun; and most importantly spend time together as a family.

Some of the highlights:

• Seeing people we get to see far too rarely. Thank you for putting us up Nicole on the Mornington Peninsula. Colleen and Ken thank you for lunch it was lovely to see you again and for you to spend some time with Sylvie
• Seeing the country from the driver’s seat. As you will see from the map, we did quite a bit of travel in the car. I love driving and thankfully my little girl doesn’t mind it too much also
• Surfing uncrowded waves. Whilst there was practically no swell, meaning most days I couldn’t surf at all, the waves I got were bliss. Surfing a break with one or two others is a real treat and much more conducive to conversations with strangers
• Being paparazzi style fodder for a group of Chinese tourists. Whilst at the 12 Apostles, Sylvie’s blonde hair and blue eyes set off a hive of photographic activity as first one then up to 15 cameras were shooting at us in unision. Whilst at first being a little stunned at the attention we soon both grew accustomed to it. See the point below
• Spending time together as a family. Without a doubt the time to simply dedicate to quality time with my little girl and Elizabeth was bliss. Sylvie is growing so quickly. She is crawling like an expert now and is pulling herself up on anything and everything. Her personality and sense of fun is really starting to appear. Seeing bits of your own personality coming out in your child is both magical and a bit scary…
• Time away from work. The last six months has been pretty hectic at work. The chance to look at things with some perspective means I am returning after only a week away with fresh ideas and thoughts on new approaches

Enjoy the photos!

12 Apostles

Sylvie riding the swing

Split Point Lighthouse

Dromana Beach Huts

Rosebud Jetty

See all our photos from the trip on Flickr.

Map of our trip here.

I love this video of a little girl, used to playing with her iPad trying to work out why the magazine is broken. The best bit for me is where she tests her finger on her knee to confirm her finger is working.

I thought this video synchronised nicely with a picture I saw yesterday that made the prediction our children will not recognise the connection between a cassette tape and a pencil. I was amazed how many of the people I work with, not much younger than I, couldn’t work out how they related to each other. Must be getting old…

Check out the clever video below produced by Carlsberg featuring a cinema full of rough and scary looking bikies.

This type of stunt is not necessarily new, Heineken did something fairly similar not that long ago, which you can see at the bottom of this post.

Though just because it isn’t new doesn’t mean it isn’t successful or effective. For the fraction of the cost it would have taken to create an advertisement, not to mention the spend required to buy media, this clever stunt has generated in excess of 2.7 million views. It only went up a week ago, so this number will likely grow albeit at a slower pace! This number also doesn’t include the additional buzz traditional media and the blogosphere would have created. Check out a small snapshot of the additional buzz on Google.

Regardless of the fact that in retrospect coming up with an idea like this seems simple, I can guarantee it isn’t. Good work Carlsberg – a good fun and effective stunt.

Henieken’s similar stunt, which must be noted has only 900K views:

Keeping up with the scale of the internet and its associated stats and facts is a daunting task. In an attempt to simplify some of the data  OnlineSchools.org have prepared a pretty stunning infographic.

I love infographics generally, but this one is extra special special because it is interactive. Once loaded it will calculate how many new internet users there are in the world, the number of new websites being created and even how many dollars have been spent on e-commerce since the page was loaded last.

I have been banging on to colleagues and anyone else that will listen for some time now about the opportunity infographics represent for PRs. They are the ideal way to communicate complex information in a compelling and highly consumable way that is perfect for web consumption. In my opinion every survey or research media release should be accompanied by an infographic to bring the stats to life. There are additional thoughts and examples of infographics on the Edelman Digital blog.

Check out the interactive State of the Internet Infographic here, or simply marvel at its non interactive beauty below.

Hat tip to Digital Buzz Blog where I saw this first.

What happens when you combine a dark night, LED lights and some really good surfers? Check out the video to find out.

MUNDAKA 24H from aritzaranburu.com on Vimeo.

Thanks to Emma Keech for sharing this with me.

New business presentations, whether you agree with them or not, are very much a reality for just about every advertising, PR and media agency.

I reckon over the course of my career I have been involved in maybe 60 or more new business pitches and that numbers increases every single week.

Thankfully I have not won every pitch I have been involved in. I say thankfully because I have learnt something valuable from every single loss. So much so in fact that now I am in the fortunate position that I am winning more pitches than I lose.

In preparation for addressing a group of Newcastle University students this week, I developed a presentation focussing on what makes a good new business pitch. You can check it out below, but in case you don’t have the time to read it all below are my top tips.

Tips for winning new business

The most important point:

• Realise that the client will most likely buy the best new business performance, not the best agency

I have learnt this stuff because I have been privileged enough to work with some of the best in the business when it comes to winning new business. These people include:

• Michelle Hutton – CEO Edelman Australia
• Chris Savage – CEO STW
• Samantha Allen – Global MD Consumer Practice Ogilvy PR

I also learnt a tonne reading this book - Stop Bitching and Start Pitching by Marty Kellard and  Ian Elliot.

If you have additional suggestions for winning new business, or you disagree with any of my comments I would love to receive your feedback in the comment box.