Archive for the ‘New Media’ Category

Shiny Red’s research into the UK Mummy Blogging community

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

One of the biggest growth areas in social media in the UK is the so called Mummy Blogging sector. This is where bloggers share their experiences of parenting (among other things) with a growing and vibrant community.

Mummy Blogging’s roots are in the US with writers like Dooce who now attract hundreds of thousands of readers. It has however grown significantly this side of the pond, and we think that there could now be as many 1000 parenting blogs in the UK.

Mummy Bloggers are also becoming increasingly influential with core writers attracting thousands of readers each month and creating posts that generate large numbers of comments. There is also a very powerful social media footprint emerging around the Mummy Bloggers powered not just by Twitter and Facebook but also by the Ning community site of The British Mummy Blogger network.

As an agency Shiny Red has already worked on several campaigns that have involved talking with mummy bloggers. This autumn though we decided that the time was right to take the temperature of the UK scene by surveying 20 of the key bloggers and engaging in conversations with several others. We also gleaned a lot of information about the scene by simply reading their blogs.

Among the questions we asked them were

Why they blog?

How they feel about brands approaching them?

How they use social media?

Where they go for advice and support?

This presentation was developed a for a Mummy Blogging event that we hosted along with our sister agency The Red Consultancy on October 20^th. Here we gave representatives from brands and government agencies the chance to not just hear our views, but more importantly to meet and have a conversation with two of the UK’s leading mummy bloggers.

It is hard to sum up our findings in a couple of sentences. However we feel that the Mummy Bloggers are powerful and vociferous community, but one that is ready and willing to engage with brands, but only on their own terms. They are also well educated, influential women who between them wield an awful lot of economic power.

We also noted there is also a splintering of the Mummy Blogging community with a new breed of writers emerging who are much more focussed on monetising their words than some of their contemporaries.

Feel free to read through the deck and tell us what you think in the comments.

Tags: mummy blogging, Mumsnet, research, shiny red
Posted in Blogging, New Media | 2 Comments »

Would Britons pay for online content?

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

The big issue in UK media at the moment is how to make money out of online content. Currently most sites rely on advertising to generate income, but it is now clear that the money from those banner and flash things just isn’t enough to fund most newspapers. Plan B, as outlined by Rupert Murdoch, is to charge readers to look at the sites. So the Sunday Times will go subscription only very soon and other newspapers may follow. There’s also talk of a micro payment system being created whereby you pay a small amount for each bit of newspaper content you read.

But will the British public cough up for something that has been free since the dawn of the web? Well according to a survey commissioned by Paid Content UK and run by Harris Interactive, apparently not

Asked if their favourite news site were to charge three quarters of people would simply switch to an alternative free news source with just five percent of readers prepared to commit to paying for the site.

The survey also concludes that younger, poorer and lower class readers are more likely to pay the subs than older, richer and posher ones. There’s a regional bias too with people in London and the south east more likely to pay a subscription than those in the north and west.

“This does not look like good news for a pay model in a competitive environment,” Andrew Freeman, Harris’ senior media research consultant told Paid Content. “As long as free alternatives exist, consumers will turn to them for their daily news information, meaning heavy losses in terms of audience figures for those that charge. ”

Media for free

British consumers do have a point too, for even if every major British newspaper charges for content they will still have places to go.

The two things that will make it very tricky for media organisations to charge for content are -

1 Blogs. Walled content gardens could actually spark a renaissance in blogging, especially when coupled with tools like Posterous (which works incredibly well with Twitter), as bloggers simply cut and paste (either physically or intellectually) subscription content from media sources and publish it freely.

2 The BBC. At the time of writing the corp is still going to offer all its content for free, so readers can still access one of the world’s premium news sources for nothing. It makes paying that few quid each month to The Guardian looks a lot less appealing.

There is some debate about whether the next government will curtail the BBC’s online ambition, but this remains to be seen.

But we pay for TV…

It should be noted that many Britons who were very opposed to the idea of paying for subscription TV quite happily now pay for Sky and Virgin Media. Also 5% may sounds like s small figure, but it would generate a substantial amount of income, probably much more than the media companies are getting via advertising.

So what about you? Would you pay for The Guardian? The Mirror? Or even the Sport?

Posted in New Media | 1 Comment »

Stuff we like – May; Seesmic’s desktop, Spoonfed’s iPhone app and blogs about bus shelters

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Every so often the Shiny Red team gets together over lunch to talk about stuff we like and don’t like while chomping merrily on posh, but overpriced crisps.

Today’s session was exceptionally good as it threw up a series of very cool links, which we decided we’d like to share.

So here’s what we have been arguing the toss about this week

Seesmic’s new desktop tool ““There are fans at Shiny Red who love the new Seesmic tool as it brings together Facebook status, Twitter, Seesmic and images in a very clever Tweetdeck style desktop tool. Funny how two years ago all the pundits were championing web based apps at the expense of desktop ones- but now desktop ones are everywhere ““ Tweetdeck, Spotify etc

Microsoft’s Vine ““ We are keen to check out the beta version of Microsoft’s Vine, which we’ll call a Twitter for emergencies. Basically it allows you to notify your friends if something bad eg flood, tidal wave, T-Mobile Flashmob, is about to happen in their area.

Hudson Jeans Twitter feed ““ a good example of a small-ish company working proactively using Twitter. Made our resident Hudson fan very happy.

Ilike.org.uk ““ Fantastic example of a vibrant niche blog (it has loads on interesting 20^th century architecture ““ bus shelters anyone?) which has a lively community.

Zaproot.com ““ Still the best online news video show. Amazing editing, superb use of images and a hugely talented presenter.

Spoonfed’s iPhone app ““ We have been banging on about how location based services will start to get seriously sexy for a long time now. Spoonfed ““ a what’s on for London ““ has now got a really cool iPhone app called Spoonfed Radar which shows you where exciting stuff is happening. You have to see it in action to get it. It is a bit basic at the mo ““ but has huge potential.

Twitter.com/justforgirls - Interesting example of a Twitter news feed ““ this time picking up on cool stuff online for girls, which isn’t linked to a website. We all wondered out loud why she was doing it and if she wanted to make money out if, but cool content whatever.

New York billboard art ““ Apparently some old NY billboards have been whitewashed which has give a green light to the city’s art collectives to come up with really cool things ““ see here . Wouldn’t it be great if we could do the same thing in London?

ASOS Community ““ Interesting attempt by a brand to develop its own community. Our resident ASOS addict thinks that it is doing well so far, but we wonder if a lot of that UGC is actually generated by ASOS staff. Only time will tell if it works, but a bold and ambitious move

Thru-you ““ The best music mash up we have seen on YouTube in a while. Genius

Tags: Asos, bus shelters, Hudon jeans twitter, iLike.org.uk, Microsoft Vine, seesmic, shiny red, Spoonfed iphone, spotify, Thru you youtube, tweetdeck, twitter, zaproot
Posted in New Media | 2 Comments »

How the Guardian’s Ian Tomlinson G20 video changes the media landscape

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

An astonishing piece of amateur video obtained by the Guardian shows just how much the world has changed for big media players. The footage shows Ian Tomlinson, the man who died at last week’s G20 protests in London, being struck by a police officer and falling to the ground minutes before suffering a fatal heart attack.

You can view the film and make up your own mind about the incident, now the subject of an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. My focus here is to discuss how the footage and surrounding story has played out across old and new media in an exceptionally powerful and converged way.

The Guardian has scored a major coup, not just in getting hold of what is an extraordinary news exclusive, but for how it has successfully delivered the story via its traditional print product, its own web site, and across social media too. (I have to declare an interest as my husband David Taylor works on the Guardian’s home news desk and has been pivotal in developing this story over the last few days.)

Consider this: The Guardian had an exclusive, yet it chose to share its content before it appeared in print, running the video and a first break on the story on its web site yesterday evening. In the ‘old’ days of print journalism this would have been inconceivable, to the point that the red top tabloids would regularly run weak front page stories in their early editions, revealing their big exclusives only in final 3am print run.

As soon as the video appeared other newspapers’ sites were linking to it and capturing the footage or still images to use themselves, and crediting the Guardian. Meanwhile broadcasters including the BBC, Sky and Channel 4 featured it extensively on their news bulletins, again promoting the Guardian name.

At the same time, social media was fuelling the story, with Guardian journalists using Twitter to share the video URL. Mass retweets followed and within hours, “Ian Tomlinson” was trending on Twitter as one of the 10 most written about topics.

Today the Guardian’s print edition has extensive and detailed analysis of the film by reporter Paul Lewis to augment his online story, while the web site is offering bloggers the footage to embed. And rival media from the agenda-setting Today programme to competitor broadsheets are still crediting the Guardian as the source.

So what does this tell us? Firstly that high-quality content is crucial - without an exceptional story none of this would have happened. Second, strategic use of the right media channels – print, social media, web site – can have a multiplying audience effect not a minimising one. Third, that media businesses now are not “papers” or “web sites” but brands, regardless of how we consume their content. The Guardian’s liberal stance helped it secure the story, and its brand has been strengthened by the extensive cross-promotion it has since received.

Tags: David Taylor, death, G20, Guardian, Ian Tomlinson, Paul Lewis, Video
Posted in New Media, PR and Marcomms, Social Networking, User Generated Content, Video, Web 2.0 | 11 Comments »

Are you prepared to save Tango?

Friday, December 5th, 2008

Brtivic have made a great effort in fighting their declining sales with an upbeat integrated marketing campaign which portrays Tango as a British institution and asks the public to get behind the brand.

For the campaign they have rolled out some amusing but captivating videos ““ here’s my favourite:

Their website, Save Tango is a great resources for the fans of this campaign. It holds content for you to do your own offline PR ““ you can download and print off stickers, stencils and letters to lobby shops to bring back Tango. The website also includes games, chances to sign a petition and watch vintage adverts.

No doubt inspired by the award winning ‘Bring back the Wispa!’ campaign, this strategy of saving or reviving a traditional brand through new media has a precedent of success. The fan page already has 343 members and has been running for two weeks.

Posted in New Media, Video | 1 Comment »

Kudos where it’s due…and who’s your unsung tech hero?

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

Apologies for blowing our own trumpet, but I do so on behalf of people too modest to do it themselves…

Congratulations to Ashley, Chris and Katie, founders of Shiny Media and subsequently of Shiny Red, who’ve just been named among the 1,000 most influential Londoners by the Evening Standard. Also namechecked in the new media category are Apple’s Jonathan Ive (slightly stretching the definition as he hails from Chingford and now lives in California…), James Murdoch and, er, Lord Rothermere, chairman of the DMGT which owns the Evening Standard. Elsewhere Kate Moss, Stella McCartney and of course Boris Johnson also feature.

And Ashley’s also bigged up in T3’s list of 50 most influential people in technology alongside that man Ive again, Steve Ballmer, Sergey Brin and Jerry Yang among others.

As ever a depressingly small number of women make the cut – two suggestions from me would be Jemima Kiss of the Guardian, and former Microsoft exec Judy Gibbons, now at Accel Partners and heading up innovative UK start-ups like mobile content aggregator Mippin.

Any other unsung tech heroes out there who you think deserve a shout out?

Posted in Blogging, Mobile, New Media, Web 2.0 | No Comments »

FDA report shows healthcare blogs are as influential as traditional media

Friday, October 10th, 2008

My work often takes me into the realms of healthcare blogs and every time I learn a lot. Often I am looking though personal blogs where people are blogging about the medications that they are on. I’ve always thought that the diary like style and unbiased approach has given them a weight that traditional media doesn’t have – so it’s always nice when official reports are released supporting your thoughts.

There is a new MHRA report that has looked at the influence and popularity of a range of online information sources for people interested in learning about the drug Seroxat, and found that people who write them are as influential as many traditional media and corporate websites.

There are many issues facing pharmaceutical companies talking on line without a firm strategy in place, but the outcome of this report shows that ordinary people can blog both truths and untruths about medicines that they are on, each having a strong impact on key audiences. The first step (and one in which many pharmaceutical companies are taking) is to start listening to the online world, auditing the key themes and the most influential sources. Then strategies can be put into place, ensuring that the flow of correct information is reaching the correct people.

Posted in Blogging, New Media, PR and Marcomms, User Generated Content | 2 Comments »

Social Media vs. TV – learnings from Amsterdam (part one)

Friday, September 19th, 2008

A few days ago, I was lucky enough to visit Amsterdam for the annual International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) which brings together nearly 50,000 visitors from the world of TV. From traditional broadcast to exciting applications such as mobile and IPTV, the exhibition and conference is a window into all that’s going on in video and radio entertainment. But the broadcast model has never sat comfortably with the wild web – issues of rights management, content protection and the internet’s natural disposition for breeding disruptive technologies have led to these two media channels into prickly relations in the past.

Now, Michael Grade, executive chairman of ITV, has added fuel to the fire, telling conference attendees that “Google and YouTube are just parasites, they just live off our content is what they do. As long as we can create the content, the content is the keys to the castle for us going forward. The day they start spending one billion pounds a year on content is the day I’ll start worrying.”

Grade is confusing professional content with social media content, showing a huge lack of understanding in terms of why people use TV and why people use YouTube. I’m with Shane Richmond on this one, who rightly states that “Online video is not about replicating traditional broadcast TV and it’s certainly not about cannibalising ITV’s meagre audience, which is a drop in the ocean in internet terms.”

The consumer values content above all else and is far from worried about where it comes from. It’s a fact the music business has found difficult to swallow, and the TV industry is equally reluctant to get on board. Fortunately, companies like Shiny Red client APRICO are out there getting content owners to sit up and take notice. APRICO’s software means that consumers can watch programmes from traditional TV sources as well as internet content – like the ever popular Rocketboom - all in one channel, personalised to a particular interest. Once again, content is king… we just have to recognise that its kingdom is a cross-platform one.

Posted in Events and Conferences, New Media, Video | 1 Comment »

Local news for local people

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

It’s good to see it’s not all doom and gloom at the UK’s regional papers. I enjoyed Jon Clements post about the way the 140 year old Manchester Evening News is integrating print, online and broadcast. Jon quoted Assistant News Editor, Paul Gallagher, explaining that the breadth of options gives them and their audience more choice and quality, as “decisions on news are very much based on its suitability for the medium“. Although good co-ordination is needed – “the paper tends to time the release of online news with the hard copy, so not to compete with itself.” . The delicate balance of timings required within an integrated sell-in, to optimise press and broadcast needs is something we’re well familiar with!

The variety of sources used by MEN journalists is also great. From memorial sites on social networks to mobile videos – something that is going to become ever more prevalent in the next year. The likes of Qik and Kyte allowing instant street-to-web streaming are going to speed up the news cycle even more. It reminded me of the recent post by fellow-PR Wadds, where he became a citizen journalist of his local flooding. As well as conversations I’ve had with Gary Andrews around the way Twitter can and is used by journalists to contact people live-twittering events for quotes, information and images. Gary’s post on The Chicago Tribune’s usage is a great example, as have been the recent hurricanes.

There are slip-ups to be made in this process, I think most people agreed that the Twittering of a funeral last week was in bad taste. But generally it’s great to see the way technology is allowing regional news to be reinvigorated and genuinely interact with their audience – potentially moving towards offering a sense of community hubbed online, that many of us have lost in our neighbourhoods.

Posted in Broadcast, Microblogging, Mobile, New Media, Print, User Generated Content | No Comments »

We’re in the world’s top 50 PR blogs!

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

And we’re pretty pleased with that! In the week that we’re generally showing off and unveiling our glam new look we also got our listing up in the AdAge Power list, which according to Matthew Watson’s excellent maths means we’re 39 in the global top 50 PR blogs.

It’s rewarding with the hard work and attention that’s gone in to building the Shiny Red blog. It’s been a really fun and educational process since the first unassuming post in 2006, and it’s something the whole team love doing and learn lots from.

Having seen Vero’s well-read post about PRs and bloggers this week, I’m reminded again how lucky we are as social media PRs to be able to get involved in this way – traditional PR doesn’t offer the same opportunity to be a broadcaster or journalist. The experience of publishing our thoughts online is so valuable both to communicate Shiny Red’s knowledge and personality, and and to learn as practitioners. I remember publishing my first ever blog post (bless) which wasn’t even under my name, but was a good moment of realisation about how it feels to put your own words out there. It certainly makes building and ‘pitching’ stories a lot more strategic when you can reflect, from experience – would I write about this?

Thanks to Matthew and Spinning Around for getting everyone into a bit of ranking mania it’s been good to see how our more localised communities line up and discover some new blogs too.

Posted in Blogging, General, New Media, PR and Marcomms, Web 2.0 | 2 Comments »