tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12174157141201289882009-11-11T16:42:16.347ZA critical eye on the worlds of media and PR: gossip, scandal, analysis and comment from a hack turned flackWill Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.comBlogger544125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-52506014090954805372009-11-05T16:06:00.006Z2009-11-05T16:12:20.389Z2009-11-05T16:12:20.389Z

Last night I attended a Press Index event. It was a product launch for something called Pikanews.com – have a look, it's a media monitoring service that lets you slice and dice the media any number of ways in search of key words. It's clever stuff (though the beta is a little shakey), even if I can’t quite shake the notion that they've really just put a sexy front-end on a lot of Google News

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-27625744098533252222009-11-05T10:13:00.007Z2009-11-09T19:09:03.097Z2009-11-09T19:09:03.097Z

This sounds like the worst competition prize in the world. I'm sure it's a good job if you have to do it for a living, but it's a poor, poor, poor competition 'prize'. Perhaps second prize is working in a fast food restaurant for TWO days.(Thanks to the lovely Gemma for flagging). I'd call this a PR fail.If you'd like the chance to be my PA, or cleaner, for a week please post a comment below...

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-75359063029554924822009-11-01T15:42:00.004Z2009-11-01T15:46:15.025Z2009-11-01T15:46:15.025Z

There are a couple of very interesting pieces in this weekend's papers pulling together the various strands of recent 'Twitterstorms'; from Jan Moir to AA Gill, via The Guardian vs Carter-Ruck. First yesterday's Guardian, today the Times, home last week to AA Gill's baboon-shooting confession.Perhaps the mainstream is genuinely wrestling with the relationship they must forge with social media.

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-61891647332116491432009-10-30T12:16:00.004Z2009-10-30T12:22:17.380Z2009-10-30T12:22:17.380Z

How did I miss this?? No sooner did I flag one well-organised viral video than somebody points out that Oprah did something similar... but A LOT, LOT bigger. She also roped in the Black Eyed Peas to help out. Get her and her gold phone!

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-68174077343589069972009-10-30T11:31:00.002Z2009-10-30T11:32:47.240Z2009-10-30T11:32:47.240Z

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-19873691877978080662009-10-28T13:50:00.011Z2009-10-28T14:28:24.760Z2009-10-28T14:28:24.760Z

Good to see former colleague and unofficial poster child of social media Jon Silk already up and running, in front of camera in his new home at Waggener Edstrom (where they clearly make people work in early-20th Century classrooms).Here's Jon discussing what makes good PR, it's worth listening (and over on ReputationOnline his comments are pitted against journo Will Cooper from NewMediaAge) ...

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-43547614608383019812009-10-25T23:43:00.002Z2009-10-25T23:55:50.350Z2009-10-25T23:55:50.350Z

As a PR man I love a good visual stunt... but please, just make sure it's not going to end up making you the laughing stock.Hats off to all those Manchester United fans who threw beachballs onto the Anfield pitch following the intervention of an inflatable in Liverpool's previous game.But for the not inconsiderable matter of a comprehensive 2-0 beating it was a classic jape. Hopefully it cheered

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-5126301155648225772009-10-22T08:39:00.013+01:002009-10-22T10:31:31.614+01:002009-10-22T10:31:31.614+01:00

Here is the new Microsoft Windows 7 Advert. Pay particular attention to second 17 through 18 (flagged by the excellent World's Leading)... (continues)Er... she couldn't have done...could she? Well listen again... this time just to that clip (and then take the poll on the right)...

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-41505380088776581752009-10-20T08:35:00.003+01:002009-10-20T08:40:25.668+01:002009-10-20T08:40:25.668+01:00

I was on More 4 News last night discussing the recent spate of online activism which has highlighted the power of the blogoshpere and more specifically Twitter.It was an interesting piece, ranging in discussion from Stephen Fry's role as the unelected 'president' of the Twitterverse - and the power he wields - to the events of last week; most notably the Carter-Ruck v the Guardian debate and

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-54512759145225443512009-10-17T00:02:00.003+01:002009-10-17T00:05:28.259+01:002009-10-17T00:05:28.259+01:00

Following the coverage throughout the day of Jan Moir's controversial column on Stephen Gately (see: Daily Mail tones down Jan Moir headline and Jan Moir, London Underground: ‘I’ve got a Twitter and I’m not afraid to use it’ from TheMediaBlog.co.uk) I was invited onto Sky News alongside Matthew Todd, the editor of Attitude, to discuss the issue and the role of Twitter in publicising the

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-83687904928231642152009-10-16T09:55:00.008+01:002009-10-16T12:36:53.525+01:002009-10-16T12:36:53.525+01:00

I sense a storm in a social media cup is a brewin’ for London Underground today following an account of incredible rudeness by a member of staff towards an elderly customer which is doing the rounds of the blogosphere (original account here). There is also a video capturing the final stages of the spat.Irrespective of provocation – though we’re told there was little if any – it’s probably not

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-87266572181121383482009-10-14T09:40:00.005+01:002009-10-14T09:49:19.332+01:002009-10-14T09:49:19.332+01:00

The BBC's Panorama debacle has been well covered this week, but it seems the BBC is still badly missing the point.Talking to PR Week, the BBC's head of comms John Shield said: “We are an extremely busy comms operation. So, we are grateful to our professional colleagues at Ryanair for driving publicity for the show.”Er, ...brilliant.So it’s a lose-lose? Which makes…. er, a win, somehow for the BBC

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-14143083122816081822009-10-13T14:16:00.002+01:002009-10-13T14:21:34.387+01:002009-10-13T14:21:34.387+01:00

As predicted, last night’s Panorama 'revelations' about Ryanair did little to dent the reputation of the airline (all things being relative) but did raise plenty of questions about the BBC. There was no story, nothing new about the claims and it came across as a rather weak piece of television that left the programme and its journalist looking adrift from anything that resembles quality

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-34770597080801873082009-10-12T21:50:00.004+01:002009-10-12T21:57:29.974+01:002009-10-12T21:57:29.974+01:00

I defy you not to laugh… unless you are easily offended by bad language:A big hat tip to Dan Ilett for flagging that one.

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-32427253451494122192009-10-12T14:41:00.003+01:002009-10-12T15:00:06.548+01:002009-10-12T15:00:06.548+01:00

Back in my days on the editorial side of the fence I was often on the receiving end of this pitch:“We want to do something that looks like advertising, smells like advertising… hell, it IS advertising, but here’s the kicker, the catch, the twist if you will - we don’t want to pay for it… So, what can you do for us?”The answer of course was: “Nothing, but I can put you through to somebody in sales

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-2984412333493411622009-10-12T12:49:00.008+01:002009-10-12T13:43:47.055+01:002009-10-12T13:43:47.055+01:00

I made a commitment some time ago to never again fly Ryan Air, having flown with them from London (actually closer to Ipswich) Stansted to Valencia. Personally, I would rather have tried swimming there.So it's fair to say I'm not a fan, but that’s not to say I’m not willing to learn from them. Normally the lessons we learn from Ryan Air of course are of the ‘how not to…’ variety, but the budget

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-4455934997136936852009-10-01T17:29:00.000+01:002009-10-01T17:32:16.599+01:002009-10-01T17:32:16.599+01:00

Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua.

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-2861955977701595102009-09-29T19:58:00.000+01:002009-09-29T20:01:42.251+01:002009-09-29T20:01:42.251+01:00

In case anybody's noticed the blog has been a little quiet, I'm currently lying in a hammock, on a balcony, overlooking the sea in Antigua.

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-83705495393204400762009-09-22T11:21:00.007+01:002009-09-22T11:40:56.178+01:002009-09-22T11:40:56.178+01:00

In the recession I've noticed a real increase in competitive messaging. It's no longer enough to market a product or service and hope that draws in cautious consumers. It seems you must also try to rubbish the competition to make extra sure of those hard-fought revenues.Dixons.co.uk has rattled major rivals John Lewis and Selfridges with an ad campaign in the capital that uses their own branding

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-13320909326142117982009-09-21T12:26:00.007+01:002009-09-21T12:45:41.830+01:002009-09-21T12:45:41.830+01:00

On a walk through Camden on a Saturday afternoon you expect a few strange sights.But I didn't expect a singing handy man in an old Austin van blowing blowing bubbles while the driver belted out Love Is In The Air.Great publicity stunt. It made a lot of people smile, a lot of people take photos and a lot of people no doubt remember the simple domain name which does what it says on the tin.

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-59190434625352279892009-09-18T10:51:00.009+01:002009-09-22T08:39:31.813+01:002009-09-22T08:39:31.813+01:00

OK people, this is the guest list for the Tech PR drinks, if you're name's not down, you're not coming in I'm afraid as it's going to be a very full house...Eb Adeyeri, Nathalie Agnew, Paul Allen, Will Arnold, Gioconda Beekman, Jon Bernstein, Lee Brooke, John Brown, Sally Brown, Sophie Brown, Toby Brown, Katie Buckett, Deirdre Burke, Stu Campbell, Funda Cizgenakad, Sarah Crawford, Amy Crosbie,

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-30986918057322591822009-09-17T08:33:00.021+01:002009-09-17T10:05:19.519+01:002009-09-17T10:05:19.519+01:00

I see a website called PR Moment is running a poll on whether men or women are better at PR.The answer of course is ‘neither, what a stupid question’.That’s not to say it isn’t a consideration when planning teams and looking for the right mix of skills and personalities. But the notion that skills sets are so starkly different on either side of the gender divide (men are more confident

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-3148909200695591752009-09-16T14:20:00.009+01:002009-09-16T14:41:57.607+01:002009-09-16T14:41:57.607+01:00

It's good news and good news (unless you've not registered yet)!Firstly, the guest list for next week's Tech PR drinks is now CLOSED and it looks like we have a full-house. It's shaping up to be an excellent evening, so thank you for all the interest. If for any reason you can no longer make it though, please let me know, so somebody else can take your place if there's any late interest.Secondly,

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-39179735034028745372009-09-16T09:12:00.005+01:002009-09-16T09:30:10.420+01:002009-09-16T09:30:10.420+01:00

A great piece of PR here for the Perfect 10s strip joint in Preston (…sounds lovely doesn’t it?). The BBC reports:“A strip club in Lancashire has been reprimanded for placing a provocative advert at the entrance to a park. The advert showed a woman in underwear with the text, "Say hello to my new boobs for the first time here at Perfect 10s.“The ASA found the pictures used were "likely to be seen

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-89996452429477599112009-09-14T14:01:00.005+01:002009-09-14T14:40:03.833+01:002009-09-14T14:40:03.833+01:00

I've been following my local newspaper The Surrey Comet on Twitter, ever since I was a little harsh about the balance of their reporting in a post on TheMediaBlog.co.uk.I have since come to love the paper's Twitter stream and content. Take today's description of Kingston-Upon-Thames' first ever flashmob, it's a good read. And subject-wise it's also a good example of how social media tactics can

Will Sturgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00368870263921698391noreply@blogger.com0