Merchants' Academy video now released by Montage
27.04.2009
Blog
Our Montage Communications Bloggers can be found on the right hand side of the screen:
Montage has also developed the hugely successful prBristol.co.uk to help both PRs and journalists make the most of the new media opportunities. PRBristol also has its very own social space called the Watering Hole where PROs and media can network. As a result of our work with prBristol.co.uk we secured coverage in PR Week, Brand Republic, Hold the Front Page, World Editors blog forum to name but a few!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------Great video speaks 1m words for Oasis Brightstowe
19.03.2009
We have recently won the Bristol Academies contract for all the Academy schools in Bristol, from the DCSF.
As a result we are working on some fantastically creative campaigns that are focused on raising admission numbers of past failing schools, that are now turning the tide for education in Bristol.
See the example below of our video that was produced by Montage for Oasis Brightstowe.
Brightstowe Academy Profile Piece video from Podchains on Vimeo.
As a result we are working on some fantastically creative campaigns that are focused on raising admission numbers of past failing schools, that are now turning the tide for education in Bristol.
See the example below of our video that was produced by Montage for Oasis Brightstowe.
Brightstowe Academy Profile Piece video from Podchains on Vimeo.
Have I gone Twitter mad?
12.03.2009
It seems that the influence of blogs are on the slide while social networks and micro-blogs (Twitter) may increase. Let me know your thoughts on Twitter.
Find me @PRBristolblog for our Twitterings from PRBristol.
Find me @PRBristolblog for our Twitterings from PRBristol.
Twitter claims world exclusive!
21.01.2009
Twitter's success in breaking news continues, with a world exclusive picture of the downed US Airways jet with 155 people on board.
The power of Twitter to break news has been already proven with the Chineese earthquakes and the attacks in Mumbai.
Incidentally there is a Twitter festival taking place in Bristol called Bristwestival. Follow :@bristwestival on Twitter for more details or visit their website.
It should all kick off on the 12th Feb 2009.
A perfect storm ... or opportunity?
06.01.2009
It's not good. The media commentators are calling it a perfect storm. We are all fully aware of the carnage in the retail market at the moment, but grave predictions for media are afoot, too, especially from Roy Greenslade at the Guardian.
As I have blogged before the newspaper industry had seen a significant fall in circulation and drops in ad revenue BEFORE the credit crunch; now, the perfect economic conditions exist to sink at least one regional newspaper provider. So let's take a look at our local press.
Northcliffe
Despite the failure to find a buyer a couple of years ago, the DGMT group that owns Northclife (owners of the Bristol Evening Post, Western Daily Press, Bristol Observer, Venue and Folio) is well-capitalised and diverse enough to weather the storm. However, don't be surprised to see the continuing consolidation of the group; there are rumours of the Western Daily Press merging with the Bristol Evening Post, although in effect, this has already begun across business, sport and competitions, etc.
Newsquest
Ironically, The Bristol Press in the USA is in big trouble, along with the New York Times and yet another US media giant in difficulty which will hit us closer to home; Gannett, USA's largest publisher, is in a precarious position, and it owns Newquest. The Newquest group runs publications such as the Swindon Advertiser and we could see a media 'black hole' appearing in Wiltshire as a result.
The positives? Well, they are few and far between. Regional radio has been hit as well and many networks are cutting back and syndicating content.
There is a silver lining for the media, though, and it is online. Internet advertising is still growing by a predicted 7.2% in 2009 and businesses struggling for new customers have to spend on marketing to survive.
The real success of 2009, I believe, will be Facebook. A whopping 200 million unique users (and growing) will see it overtake Blogger as the top social media site that will attract big name brands in 2009!
Let's talk!
04.12.2008
Imagine you are in a crowded room, trying to talk to all your clients about their requirements or feelings. It's impossible. They get drowned out, along with everyone else in the room. This could be used as an analogy for broadcast media, where it is impossible to account for all likes, dislikes and feelings in one short, albeit very loud, hit.
Blogging must be seen as a conversation and an opportunity to relate, get feedback and SELL your product or service one-to-one.
I have won lots of work just by being in the blogosphere and actively building contacts and networks.
Why blog? Well, here are five reasons:
1 - You don't have time to go and visit every potential client face-to-face
2 - Blogging is a more subtle form of PR where it is possible to have conversations with potential customers and great for CRM (that's Customer Relationship Management)
3 - A corporate blog is an opportunity to establish credibility as a thought-leader/expert in your field
4 - Cost-effective vs traditional PR and advertising
5 - A blog provides invaluable market research into the opinions and needs of your clients.
PRBristol comes of age...
10.11.2008
Sallyanne of ForwardSlashMedia, the 100th member to join PRBristol.co.uk
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The launch of PRBristol has been fantastic and a great learning experience for us.
A sucessful PR launch secured coverage in PR Week, Brand Republic, Hold the Front Page, World Editors blog forum, to name but a few!
PRBristol has seen a surge in new visitors and we are experiencing circa 1,700 unique visitors a month and we have 105 members on the Watering Hole.
If you would like to see a selection of our witty, informative and cutting-edge news blogs then take a look on PRBristol.co.uk.
Is it the end of the line for YouTube?
27.10.2008
We all know YouTube, it's as main stream as X-Factor. In fact, some X-Factor YouTube videos get 500,000 views at a time, so clearly the Google-owned Goliath that is YouTube still has life in it yet ... it has 71m US visitors a month!
However, if we look at the social networking trends over the last six months, you can see patterns emerging within established social media that show MySpace and YouTube are steadily declining. Only Facebook is increasing its daily reach.
So, what's happening? YouTube is coming under attack from good quality opposition with Vimeo.com. This holds a similar peer review and create slant, very much on the lines of Flickr.com, but has the added avantage of HD viewing and a great embedding function.
Bristol Alliance from Andy Reeve on Vimeo.
Vimeo already has a very respectable 10m visits a month globally and is on the increase.
However, the main threat is other social networking sites. For example, Facebook has overtaken Flickr for the numbers of photos online. This trend is also evident with video on sites such as Facebook and Bebo.
I also think that, technically, the YouTube viewer is no longer up to scratch with the development of HD filming (See YouTube below).
However, if we look at the social networking trends over the last six months, you can see patterns emerging within established social media that show MySpace and YouTube are steadily declining. Only Facebook is increasing its daily reach.
So, what's happening? YouTube is coming under attack from good quality opposition with Vimeo.com. This holds a similar peer review and create slant, very much on the lines of Flickr.com, but has the added avantage of HD viewing and a great embedding function.
Bristol Alliance from Andy Reeve on Vimeo.
Vimeo already has a very respectable 10m visits a month globally and is on the increase.
However, the main threat is other social networking sites. For example, Facebook has overtaken Flickr for the numbers of photos online. This trend is also evident with video on sites such as Facebook and Bebo.
I also think that, technically, the YouTube viewer is no longer up to scratch with the development of HD filming (See YouTube below).
Will there be any regional news left in 2018?
17.10.2008
It's no wonder that bloggers are becoming increasingly more influential as regional news in print and broadcast steadily declines.
One has to ask: Will there be any regional news left in ten years time? Why? Well, let's look at the facts and trends of recent times.
1 - ITV West and ITV West Country have effectively merged, with 85 regional news jobs and journalists being made redundant. This means that basically the same news will be broadcast to everyone across one of the UK's largest regions, with a small "local" element tagged onto certain bulletins.
2 - Northcliffe is steadily merging business and sports desks across its titles in the South West, such as the sports desks at the Bristol Evening Post and the Bath Chronicle.
3 - To cut costs we will see more weeklies as opposed to dailies across the South West, as happened with the Bath Chronicle.
4 - According to the rumour mill, GWR Bristol has cut back on its journalists to focus more on syndicated and nationalised content.
Even local radio stations (mentioning no names) have outsourced news content all together ...
I am certain that the logic behind these moves are monetary only and have nothing to do with content. Surely, though, as more media moves online we still need strong and engaging content?
According to myuk (2003), 65% of people said that their local paper was the one thing that really binds people together in their area, and becomes a focus for regional identity. So a strongly focused regional brand of media will do well in the long run.
It has been well known for a while now in marketing and PR circles that people trust local more than national media. As a result, "Regional press is the most frequently acted upon media, with 61% of people responding to advertising in the medium" (Consumer Choice V - Newspaper society).
Bearing this in mind, I predict that there still will be a strong local news following in every town, city and village in the land. As the media increasingly focuses on international (e.g. BBC) and regional only (e.g. ITV), the void will be filled by bloggers, news sites and community radio stations such as Bristol Community Radio.
One has to ask: Will there be any regional news left in ten years time? Why? Well, let's look at the facts and trends of recent times.
1 - ITV West and ITV West Country have effectively merged, with 85 regional news jobs and journalists being made redundant. This means that basically the same news will be broadcast to everyone across one of the UK's largest regions, with a small "local" element tagged onto certain bulletins.
2 - Northcliffe is steadily merging business and sports desks across its titles in the South West, such as the sports desks at the Bristol Evening Post and the Bath Chronicle.
3 - To cut costs we will see more weeklies as opposed to dailies across the South West, as happened with the Bath Chronicle.
4 - According to the rumour mill, GWR Bristol has cut back on its journalists to focus more on syndicated and nationalised content.
Even local radio stations (mentioning no names) have outsourced news content all together ...
I am certain that the logic behind these moves are monetary only and have nothing to do with content. Surely, though, as more media moves online we still need strong and engaging content?
According to myuk (2003), 65% of people said that their local paper was the one thing that really binds people together in their area, and becomes a focus for regional identity. So a strongly focused regional brand of media will do well in the long run.
It has been well known for a while now in marketing and PR circles that people trust local more than national media. As a result, "Regional press is the most frequently acted upon media, with 61% of people responding to advertising in the medium" (Consumer Choice V - Newspaper society).
Bearing this in mind, I predict that there still will be a strong local news following in every town, city and village in the land. As the media increasingly focuses on international (e.g. BBC) and regional only (e.g. ITV), the void will be filled by bloggers, news sites and community radio stations such as Bristol Community Radio.
Should PR be aligned with SEO?
30.09.2008
As you might expect, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Online PR are among the portfolio of services we offer to clients - and this has made us look at ways of driving traffic to our clients’ sites.
The video below provides some interesting insights into SEO and the use of press releases with carefully selected ‘key words’. PR practitioners and marketeers are not alone in pursuing this strategy and indeed the media (Northcliffe, in particular) have concentrated on "SEO focused headlines."
However, we recently launched a website for Connexions West of England, www.ConnexionsWest.org.uk, with content that, while not specifically optimised for SEO, was designed to be interesting and relevant. The result was some 10,000 unique user hits in the first month ... which leads me to ask the question: would you rather read something that is written for you – or text manufactured for Google?
The video below provides some interesting insights into SEO and the use of press releases with carefully selected ‘key words’. PR practitioners and marketeers are not alone in pursuing this strategy and indeed the media (Northcliffe, in particular) have concentrated on "SEO focused headlines."
However, we recently launched a website for Connexions West of England, www.ConnexionsWest.org.uk, with content that, while not specifically optimised for SEO, was designed to be interesting and relevant. The result was some 10,000 unique user hits in the first month ... which leads me to ask the question: would you rather read something that is written for you – or text manufactured for Google?
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