Today, we are unveiling our site at www.bitecommunications.com. This launch coincides with the news that Bite has now become a truly global communications agency through the acquisition of Upstream Asia. The new site is designed to better showcase the global expertise and talents of Bite’s specialists through the incorporation of more dynamic content.  The amount of static information, or ‘brochure-ware’, has been reduced and the blog and news page now provide the majority of the content. The new magazine-style layout also allows for easier navigation, making specific information much easier to locate by the visitor.

The new website has been built on the WordPress platform which was chosen for its flexibility and because its ease of use allowed Bite to design and build the site entirely in-house. Bite also needed a solution that would allow for quick and easy incorporation of daily updates, as well as providing simple editing tools for multiple people across diverse locations and timezones.

The website has also been given a total facelift, with all-new content and multiple new features, designed to showcase Bite’s personality and people. Time and again we hear that one of the primary reasons clients choose Bite is because of our unique personality and we wanted the new site to reflect this. We set out to design a site that would more accurately represent who we are and what we stand for. The dynamic content, such as our blog, videos and links to our other online properties, demonstrate our considerable interest and participation in digital and social media.

Our domain has been changed from bitepr.com to bitecommunications.com to align with the company’s legal trading name and to better represent the wide range of communications services that Bite offers.

I had the good fortune to be the project manager for the development of our new website, working closely with Tim Holmes, Senior Designer (and now Website Developer!) for North America, as well as colleagues across the whole of Bite.

We hope you enjoy exploring the new site and we’d love to know what you think of it. We plan to evolve the site on a daily basis – after all, the modern website is never truly ‘finished’.

Wendy and Joe

Last night, a couple of Biters went to the PRCA awards – an annual event to celebrate the best teams and campaigns within the PR industry, both agencies and in-house. We were shortlisted for the Technology Award for our work with domain registrar Gandi.net and were up against strong competition from the likes of Brands2Life, Firefly, Kaizo and Onlinefire. And so, after nervously jiggling in our seats for the better part of an hour, the moment of truth finally came, and…. we won!!

Tony and Stuart

Disappointingly, no acceptance speeches were allowed because there were too many awards to get through, and PRs are not renowned for being succinct. So, I’d NOW like to take this opportunity to thank my mother, my father, the PRCA, all our amazing fans and….

Seriously, we’d like to thank our clients Joe and Wendy White, who came along with us last night. They are both serial entrepreneurs who took a risk with the campaign, put their faith in us and our approach, and supported us throughout the development and launch. Given that we started planning the campaign in the autumn of 2008, when the economic world was turned upside down, it shows a lot of vision and grit when there was so much uncertainty.

In the end, their faith paid off, and the results speak for themselves. We developed a truly thought provoking piece of research with the Future Laboratory and seeded it out through both traditional media and digital channels. The story was covered by over 200 media outlets all over the world, including the FT, Forbes, The Guardian, and El Mundo, and it was discussed on over 500 blogs globally. It also created a direct conversation with the governing body of the domain industry, ICANN, and has provided an ongoing platform for continued media interest.

So, there have been lots of back slaps this morning in the office, but just a final ‘jolly good show’ to the whole Bite team!

Included are a couple of pictures of Joe and Wendy, and Stuart Beckwith and myself with the award. We’ll also add the official snaps once they’re available from the PRCA. And if you’d like to find out more about the campaign, do get in touch.

Ladies and gentlemen (yes, all genders are welcome), start your hairy engines – the great month of Movember is upon us.

Gone are the clean shaven boy scouts of Bite, replaced by the grizzled men of the ‘tache. While our efforts (some better than others) to grow this symbol of manliness will be well documented in embarrassing fashion, let us not forget the meaning of the mo. Prostate cancer affects 1 in 6 American men over their lifetime and 8,400 new cases of testicular cancer have been reported in 2009 alone. Both of these diseases are menacing and their ill effects reach far and wide. But, if there’s one thing to know about the men of Bite – it’s that we’re not afraid of a fight.

The Movember organization describes the role of the moustache like this: “A Mo Bro is a walking billboard for the cause as his new look opens the door for him to talk about cancers affecting men – making the moustache a symbol, much like the pink ribbon is for breast cancer.”

This effort shines a necessary light on men’s health issues, helping us band together to fight the good fight. This strikes a particular cord in my own personal battle, taking on testicular cancer only a couple short months ago. For those who have had a similar unfortunate experience, you know the battle is never truly over, as cancer has a unique ability to come back for more after you think you have it down. Well, as they say, there’s power in numbers, and thanks to your support (donation page here), we’re able to unite with our hairy upper lips to conquer this beast.

Please help us in whatever way you can – start by reading more or donating here. The cause is noble (donations specifically reach the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation), and we promise to have some fun along the way. May the best (and worst) ‘tache win!

To keep up with Bite’s Movember progress, check out our blog: www.cash4tache.wordpress.com

Bez Family Portrait

The 31st October – a day of ghosts, ghoulies and goblins. For Bite this year, it’s also the eve of something far more sinister – Movember.
Around the world, gentlemen from Bite offices will be growing moustaches in aid of Prostate Cancer Research. Pictures will be posted here of how the ‘mo’ growth is progressing. Matt Stewart laid down the gauntlet last year with a Yosemite Sam effort which was as luxurious as it was ginger. This year we’ll be trying out some new styles, except for Grant Currie who will be happy if he grows anything.
Clients, Biters and friends alike, I urge you all to donate here for this very worthwhile cause.

Please make the pain worth it. One day your wife could make you have a family portrait taken when you are half way through the month.

Bez

LONDON – October 28, 2009

Alterian, a FTSE-listed software company and provider of engagement software for marketers, has hired Bite Communications to promote its services to senior marketers and business leaders in the UK and US.

Alterian helps businesses move from untargeted, high volume mass marketing to engagement with relevant groups and individuals. Working across multiple channels, from first contact to customer to advocate, Alterian’s software and services facilitate the delivery of quality, relevant messages at the right time in the right tone of voice. Alterian has extensive experience in web content management, email marketing, campaign management, social media monitoring and has an impressive customer base including the BBC, Astra Zeneca, Domino’s Pizza, Kelloggs, ESPN and Adobe.

Bob Barker, VP of marketing, Alterian, said, “Alterian is going through a hugely successful period, growing 73% in the last financial year. It was important that we had the right communications partner that could grow with us and help us craft our story and deliver it effectively in an ever more fragmented media world. Bite demonstrated a clear understanding of our challenge and has proven experience of helping brands maximise their potential. With a specialist team and a global footprint, our decision to select Bite was an easy one.”

The Bite team is made up of specialist consultants in story-telling and content creation, media relations, broadcast relations, digital and social media and is split between the agency’s offices in London, New York and San Francisco.

Paul Mackender, deputy managing director, Bite, added, “It’s a brilliant time to be working with Alterian. Not only has the company got a great story to tell and a board that truly believes and invests in PR but it is also delivering on its vision as seen with the recent acquisition of leading social media monitoring company Techrigy.”

About Alterian
Alterian (LSE: ALN) empowers organizations to create relevant, effective and engaging experiences with their audience that help build value and reinforce commitment to their brand, through the use of the Alterian Integrated Marketing Platform. Alterian drives the transformation of marketing and communications, making it practical and cost-effective for companies to orchestrate multichannel engagement with the individual. Alterian’s unprecedented integration of analytics, content and execution through industry leading tools, such as the Dynamic Messenger email platform, SM2 Social Media Monitoring platform and the award winning Content Management solutions, enables companies to build integrated communication strategies which create a true picture of the individual. Alterian works with marketing services partners, system integrators and agencies who recognize the need to plan and deliver coordinated customer engagement services in partnership with their clients. For more information about Alterian, products within the Alterian Integrated Marketing Platform or Alterian’s Partner Network, visit http://www.alterian.com/ or the Alterian blog at http://www.engagingtimes.com/

About Bite Communications
Bite Communications, a subsidiary of the Next Fifteen Communications Group, is a 180-strong communications consultancy with offices in London, San Francisco, New York, Toronto, LA, Beijing and Stockholm. With a mission to deliver fearless and boundless communications campaigns to its range of B2B and B2C clients, Bite has built its business on developing creative, results orientated campaigns for market-leading blue chip as well as fast growing emerging start-up brands. Its client list includes 4Music, Microsoft, AMD, Sony, Getty Images and BT.

For more information, please contact:

Paul Mackender
Bite Communications
Email: paul.mackender@bitecommunications.com
Tel: +44 (0)208 741 1123

I have slowly been digesting all of last Wednesday’s social search news from Microsoft and Google from the Web2 summit in San Francisco and trying to figure out what it means for brands. (Here is a good video that explains it a bit more.) I must confess, given the details of how it will work in practice are still fairly sketchy, certainly in my head anyway, I am not sure there are too many conclusions that can be drawn just yet.

However, I do think if it plays out as many expect, it could have a significant impact on the relative importance that brands place on communicating with the media versus directly with the consumer. Here’s why… We all know the importance of search when it comes to getting information about a product or service as part of a buying decision. At the moment, if you search on Google for say a Sony LCD TV, you get a range of search results on the first page from Sony, CNET, Reuters and various third pary buying guides. In other words, you get a range of information directly from the manufacturer or third pary reviews written by journalists and other third party influencer organizations.

If you search for Sony LCD TV on Twitter, you get search results which show up comments from consumers about their experiences with Sony LCD TV’s, both good and bad, in among the special offers.

So today, if you search for a TV on Google the results are largely those of either the media (old or new), the manufacturer or else retailers, some of which have consumer reviews on them. In a world where a Google search integrates realtime conversations from consumers about a product or service, it immediately raises the visibility of consumer opinions (disgruntled or happy) and so makes it more important than ever that brands engage directly with consumers.

There is a lot of work to do yet before the real time search of Twitter or Facebook content truly yields the collective views of the consumer, but when it does, it suddenly puts the one off review of a product by a journalist in a very different context.

For an agency to pitch consumers directly is nothing new, as referenced in today’s Ad Age, although it does require a very different business model in order to scale. Once the dust settles on the recent announcements and the true integration begins, then I suspect those agencies that understand the importance of direct consumer communication and combine that with communications via third party influencers will be very well placed.

(Photo Courtesy of Geoff Penn)

Expansion Significantly Increases Bite’s Global Presence; Adds Upstream’s Proven Expertise and Team

London and Hong Kong, October 27, 2009

Bite Communications (“Bite”), the multi-channel communications consultancy, today announced that it has completed acquisition of a majority share of Upstream Asia’s (“Upstream”) Asia Pacific communications network, via its parent company Next Fifteen.

Upstream’s offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney will begin to re-brand as Bite from November.  Upstream’s management team will remain in place, with David Ketchum, president, Asia Pacific, joining the Bite Communications group board and executive vice president Paul Mottram running operations in the region. Bite’s former Beijing team is being integrated into Upstream’s Beijing office to form a single expanded team.

Bite is now able to deliver comprehensive global reach for its clients and enable Asia-Pacific-based brands to grow on a global scale by adding Upstream Asia’s offices to its current network, which includes offices in London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Stockholm and Toronto.  In addition to geographic coverage, Bite will incorporate Upstream’s blue-chip clients to its roster, ranging from Skype and HTC in consumer technology, to Qantas and Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts in travel, and SWIFT in the financial industry. Bite will also benefit from Upstream’s exceptional digital marketing and social media capabilities.

“Geographically, professionally, and culturally, we knew Upstream would be a great fit with Bite from the beginning of our discussions,” said Clive Armitage, CEO of Bite. “Our clients have strong needs in this growing region of the world, and our new presence in Asia Pacific will complement our already strong coverage in the United States and Europe, making Bite a truly global player.”

“Joining a worldwide network is a natural next step in our team’s development, and by being part of Bite we can enhance our capability for clients and our growth,” said David Ketchum.  “We share similar perspectives on the way forward in the changing media and communications landscape, and we both see opportunities to deliver a fresh, new approach to the market.”

Armitage added: “Bite and Upstream clients will now have the opportunity to extend their programs across multiple territories and benefit from in-country experience, giving them the chance to work with a single agency just about anywhere in the world with more resources, better infrastructure, more services and a bigger talent pool.”

About Bite Communications: Bite Communications, a subsidiary of the Next Fifteen Communications Group, is a 140-strong communications consultancy with offices in London, San Francisco, New York, Toronto, LA, Beijing and Stockholm. With a mission to deliver fearless and boundless communications campaigns to its range of B2B and B2C clients, Bite has built its business on developing creative, results orientated campaigns for market-leading blue chip as well as fast growing emerging start-up brands. Its client list includes AMD, HP, Microsoft, Palm, Sony, and Vonage.  www.bitepr.com

About Upstream Asia: Founded in 2000, Upstream is a full service marketing and corporate communications network positioned to help companies make the most of business opportunities in the Asia Pacific region. Upstream has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney, as well as regional affiliates. Key practice areas include technology, corporate & financial, and consumer & travel. Prior to this announcement, Upstream Asia was owned by London AIM listed company Upstream Marketing and Communications Inc. (UPS.L) www.upstreamasia.com.

For more information, please contact:

Clive Armitage
Bite Communications
clive.armitage@bitepr.com

David Ketchum
Upstream Asia
david@upstreamasia.com

Since we founded Bite back in 1995, we’ve always been anxious to build a business that was global in nature. Given we now have 7 offices in London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Stockholm and Beijing, we’ve certainly made some progress in achieving our objective. But I’m delighted to announce that today we will be making a giant leap forward in our global ambitions. Through our parent company, Next Fifteen, we have completed the acquisition of Upstream Asia, a marketing and communications company with more than 50 people in five locations in Asia Pacific. Upstream’s offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydney will now start the re-branding process to become Bite. Bite’s existing Beijing team members are in the process of joining Upstream’s Beijing office.

Completing a deal of this nature is, to say the least, complex and hard work. But I’m convinced all the hard work will be worth it because I firmly believe that by bringing the Upstream team into Bite, we are adding a world class team of communicators to our organization. The Upstream reputation in the Asia marketplace is incredibly strong and I’ve been impressed with every point of contact I’ve had with the team. Much of the enjoyment and satisfaction that I derive from my work comes from being surrounded by smart, capable people. I’m delighted that we’ve just added 50 such people in Asia.

So what does this really mean for Bite? Well, quite simply, it allows us to offer clients a much broader global footprint. And feedback from our client base towards this news is that they are excited about the possibilities that it offers them. In addition, for our people, it gives them the chance to work on truly global campaigns and to learn from and exchange ideas with colleagues in new offices. In short, growth creates opportunities and we see plenty of opportunities through the acquisition of Upstream.

Our global story is not quite yet complete though—we know there are one or two more dots that we would like to put on the map and we’re focused on achieving that. We also know that the really hard work starts now as we begin the process of integrating Upstream into our business. But, for a moment, we’ll take a deep breath and reflect that we’ve just taken a huge step forward as a business. The future looks incredibly exciting—we can’t wait to make it happen.

One of the many observations I made since my move from the UK to the US, is that on the whole the American population is a lot more generous than the British when it comes to charity giving. I hope to prove this assumption correct with the start of “Movember” and Bite’s global initiative of raising money for Prostate Cancer Research – anyway I digress.

So when I saw a recent tweet sent by the infamous “cereal entrepreneur” Jason Calacanis asking his followers if they would mind him using the new service from Ad.ly to help raise money for charity, I was surprised that he was met with a resounding YES.

If you’re unfamiliar with Ad.ly it’s a new Twitter related service (who would have thought!) that allows you to earn (or donate) money by allowing advertisers to send out “relevant” ads in your twitter stream. You can choose the amount you charge per ad and to a lesser degree, the content. More importantly however is that each and every tweet is clearly marked as an ad – even more so if the money is designated to a charity – so it is highly unlikely you will click on it inadvertently.

Initially Calacanis wrote this:
Playing w/ Ad.ly: would u be pissed if I raised $5k for charity a week w/couple of clearly labeled ads/tweets for marketers? #payperpost

I would to think I’m astute enough to avoid the links if I want to and let’s be honest; $5k for any charity at the cost of two tweets is a pretty decent return. The rest of his followers apparently didn’t feel the same way, which Jason acknowledged – thus ending the experiment (at least by him).
Personally, I think it’s a huge shame for a number of reasons:

• It required no time investment on anyone’s part – ignore the ad if you want; the money still goes to charity
• Jason was honest and upfront; it’s not like he was trying to make a quick buck for himself (he has a fair few already in the bank)
• It’s for charity
• Again, it’s for charity – I could go on but you get my point

So I put the following questions to Jason’s followers and the rest of the general public:

• Is your time so important that you can’t bear to see a few ad based tweets for a good cause?
• Perhaps it’s the potential damage that could be done to his reputation that you care about it (although I think Jason has done plenty to impact this, exhibit A & B – much of the reason he is loved and hated so)?
• Or is there something else that I am overlooking? It’s been known to happen.

I’ve felt a bit sorry – albeit in a depressingly web 2.0 way – for our American Twitter-using cousins over the last week. On two separate occasions they’ve had their real time frame of reference sabotaged by topics completely alien to them. Who is ‘Nick Griffin’? What is a ‘Jan Moir’? Who?

An understandably confused Uncle Sam aside, the last seven days have underlined just how much social media has changed the way in which news is spread around the world.

When Enoch Powell made his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech on a grim Birmingham Saturday in 1968 it would have not been until that evening that it was reported upon, and then probably not until the Monday that it was widely debated. In contrast, according to the good folks at Radian 6 and Trendistic, a staggering 5,500 posts were published referencing Nasty Nick* around 11pm last night, whilst ‘BNP’ and ‘#BBCQT’ got a further 2,500 each. Indeed, before this morning was done not only had the press dissected Griffin’s appearance on the show but they could produce a snapshot of the public’s response to his performance.

This is, of course, no great surprise, as you’d have to have been under a particularly Luddite-tinged rock to have missed the rise of Twitter et al. What is more of a chin scratcher, on the other hand, is how exactly we can ascertain who earns a sense of authority in amongst all this noise. It was a topic doing the rounds without too much resolution back at the inaugural media140 event in May. Is it an advantage for news to be reported at a faster rate if it undermines the extent to which the author considers his own opinions? With far more people becoming published, are the experienced opinions of professional journalists more or less important.

My own suspicion is that there is still an overwhelming need for the voice of insight in amongst all the shouting (cue image of the heroic David Dimbleby…). However, breaking events of the last week go to show that a large proportion of the audience might have already made their mind up before they even get to hear this voice.

*I wonder how Nick Bateman feels about Nick Griffin. Pretty cheesed off, I’d bet. He’s stolen the poor chap’s thunder and then some.