Blog

Yesterday, I was speaking to a friend who works in the public sector and they asked me if I would explain the blogger outreach process and how to target bloggers properly without getting burnt. We have been busy at work over the last few weeks, reading, commenting and engaging with bloggers from lots of different sectors, so I felt pretty well drilled to give her my thoughts. As I started to explain the difference between media relations and blogger relations, I began to realise that there was one major difference that I needed to highlight. The truth is a good ... Read more

Now I will be honest I don’t get many perks in this job, so I thought this was worth a quick post as it brightened up my day. During the last few months we have been working hard on a number of new clients and projects – some which you may have heard about already. One of our new clients is Sony Ericsson which has hired us to advise on a variety of social media campaigns. One of these new campaigns/projects has been to help launch the new Xperia X1. Now all client plugging aside, I really like this phone ... Read more

Here is a recording of the press conference that was given by the new Newcastle FC football manager yesterday. Joe Kinnear was a surprise choice to nearly everyone, including himself as far as I can tell. In this truly shocking interview he manages to swear a whopping 52 times and asks the journalists to ‘mind their own business’. I know journalists can be harsh but is this really the best way to deal with them and does this show the kind of leadership a Premiership football club needs?

Well after another busy week at Wolfstar we decided it was time to add another staff member to our ever increasing team. I am delighted to welcome Jed Hallam, who joins us on an initial two-month temporary basis. Jed and I have spoken with each other on various social media platforms many times before but the clincher for employing him was when he created a new Facebook group called ‘Ten reasons for Wolfstar and Jed Hallam’. It was the final point for me that really caught my attention. In his own words his final reason was this: “I very nearly ... Read more

Last week I noticed a couple of articles in PR Week on one of my favourite subjects – football. It has been well documented that more and more owners of Premier League clubs are now coming from foreign countries and that is bringing its own set of problems. Many of these new owners don’t understand the traditions of their clubs and fully grasp the importance of their culture to the fans – many simply live and breathe it everyday. I seem to remember a certain Russian Billionaire starting the foreign ownership craze off. Some of these owners are welcomed  with ... Read more

Warning this is not a PR related post! You may have noticed I haven’t posted for a week or so – well that’s because I have been away on holiday to the coast. I managed to drag myself away from Wolfstar for a few days and took my little boy and wife away with some friends. It didn’t exactly go to plan, so here are my seven things not to do on your holiday to help you avoid the same mishaps. Don’t book your holiday on the wettest day of the year Don’t travel to the wettest place in the ... Read more

Here is a quick story which might interest you. Hartlepool FC has decided (for commercial reasons apparently) to ban all photographers and reporters from its local paper the Hartlepool Mail. In response to this the Northern Echo, which covers most of the North East of England, thought it would help its local friend out by providing pictures and a review of the latest game. Hartlepool FC then kindly decided to ban it as well. I don’t know about you but I think this is rather daft as there will be only one winner here and it’s not going to be ... Read more

Last night I went to see my friend, fellow blogger and former colleague Sebastian Mysko who now works for Chris Lake and Rising Music. I have posted before about how Chris and his team are using social media to spread the word about the label and his new tracks and artists. The dance music industry doesn’t appear to use public relations and social media to its full potential but these guys are really trying to bring some professionalism and fun to it. The blog has been running for a few months now and the team have posted a wide variety ... Read more

I was reading a post this morning from Matthew Watson who has pulled together an interesting list of the top UK PR blogs from the Ad Age 150 which considers advertising, marketing and PR blogs from all around the world. Unfortunately, there are still no medals for me yet as I am down in a lowly 13th place. So it means I will have to keep on pushing hard and finally try and get some decent content up on here. My colleagues Stuart Bruce and Sam Oakley both beat me to 2nd and 11th place respectively but I am determined ... Read more

Matthew Watson has tagged me on the latest meme to find inspirational communicators. Here is the blurb about it: “The idea’s simple. We’re asking you to list the three communicators living or dead who have most influenced your way of thinking professionally and perhaps personally too. Who do you think the real innovators are? Who’s been most responsible for kicking the industry forward? And just who are the communication PRunks?” So far the names which have been banded around include; Steve Jobs, Muhammed Ali,Big Winston, Banksy and Wadds Grandad which all sound like good shouts. Matthew and my friend Giles ... Read more