A Media Person's Musings

Added Value or Cynical Marketing..or Both?!?

I am down in Cornwall visiting a work colleague who works from home for us. While we worked today his wife and children went to Truro on a shopping trip in preparation for the new school year. They came back laden with bags of clothes, lunch boxes and shoes. The shoes caught my eye.

The shoes came from Clarks, one the best manufacturers of shoes for children, and the shoes in question looked very stylish, very sensible and very trendy. The added extras were what interested me. If you lifted the insole, in the heel of the shoe was a small well. In the well was a doll. In the other shoe there was another well and this one had a box of small toys that were accessories for the doll.

Here comes the best bit! The lid of the box that the shoes came in was fashioned like a pop-up book in the shape of a dolls house. This at first sight looked like a phenomenal bit of added value. On second thoughts it looked like a really cynical marketing ploy - like the MacDonald's Happy Meals toys.

After talking to my friend's daughter (seven years old) I realised that tchildren are very aware of these marketing ploys. I asked her if, next time she went shoe shopping, she would go back to Clarks because of the toys? She replied: "No, their shoes last ages and I only got them because they looked really trendy". It appears that they are getting their messages across through the quality and style of their products already - so why bother with the cheap promos?

Getting The Balance Right

Two bits of information came across my desk today that got me thinking. The first was a snippet from a colleague of mine in the US about an  AP-Ipsos poll that revealed 1 in 4 Americans didnt read a SINGLE book last year. A shocking statistic.

The next bit of information I got was that the law regarding UK holiday entitlement is shortly to change, probably to bring us more in line with our counterparts in the EU. The change means that as of 1 October employers will be obliged to offer 24 days' leave, moving to 28 in April.

I am all in favour of people getting adequate time to rest and recharge their batteries and have long envied our friends in Continental Europe for shutting up shop for the entire month of August.

Moreover it struck me that the reason that the people in the US read so little is that they simply don't have the time.

Record Results - Again?

The big news story of today is the fact that A-Level (for my American friends these are the last set of exams sat by teenagers before they go to university) results have come out today showing a national pass rate rise for the 25th year in a row. Furthermore more than one in four UK A-level entries were awarded the top A grade.

Every year they run this story and every year I get more and more flummoxed. The cleverer the youth of our nation become the worse they get at sending in decent job applications and covering letters. I have, over the years, had applications from graduates looking to get into PR and I can safely say, hand on heart, that if I filtered them based on spelling and grammar then I would have employed very few people!

This joyful trumpetting of our nation's brainpower sits in direct contrast to the lawlessness on our streets with the rise in knife and gun crime and gangs of kids beating people to death fuelled on drugs and drink. Are our youngsters more intelligent year-on-year? Should we be pleased that the next generations will move our country forward or are our standards slipping? Only time will tell.

Brown Means Business

The whole Blair - Brown succession thing left me cold - it was all pretty inevitable and uninspiring. So I was realy surprised at my reaction when Brown announced that he intended to bring in talent from specialist sectors, business and other political parties to advise him on policy and major decisions. I was pleasantly surprised!

This is a really wise move: bringing in people with experience outside of your own brings clarity and perspective. Recently my colleagues in New York hired Gene Colter (an ex WSJ senior journalist). Gene had no direct PR experience but he had a heck of a lot of experience of being on the receiving end of people like me! It was a risk..but the risk paid off in spades. Gene has within months made a significant and easily measurable difference to  our business on many levels.

This weekend I conducted a mini straw poll of my friends to assess their views of our new PM. Most were cynical, all pretty much indifferent and unanimous in their dislike (but reluctant acceptance of) the new Labour premier. I wonder if this is more to do with Brown's lack of 'Blair Flair' than with his actual personal manifesto (which seems to me far more sensible than his predecessor's).

Whatever happens his record will speak for itself but I am willing to give him a go (I am by no means a Labour die-hard). He has had a hard couple of days with terrorist attacks overshadowing all his intended moves. And recruiting specialists like Lord Stevens as his security advisor may well be Brown's making....

I'm in trouble....

Honestly I had no idea how many people read my blog! Most of the time I see it as a little log for myself...what I think about things as they happen etc.. Mostly I thought only my mum and dad read it out of family loyalty! So when a number of people told me they were disappointed I hadn't updated my blog for a while I was really surprised.

OK - this is a blog about blogging. To be honest I haven't felt like blogging recently at all. I have gone through a few bad experiences and have been very reluctant to be a public bleeding heart about them!But when a few people - clients and friends - said that they missed my regular musings I felt a bit guilty...after all a blog is supposed to be a running commentary and not just some random catalogue entry. So I am determined now to keep it up to date.

Part of the problem with my blog is that mostly I comment on the media and PR industries: I find it hard to limit myself to that.. so now I will just comment and not limit myself!

Bottom line - I am so pleased so many of you like reading what I write - it is a total revelation and a huge motivation....so please comment!!!!

The Best Present

Ok it's official I am now 40! And I am having a ball! I decided to meet the challenge head on by having a big party and inviting everyone who has been part of my life..from childhood friends through to industry friends, business colleagues and new poker buddies!

The process of doing this has been great and I have regained contact with so many old friends through a simple party invite. However there was a tinge of sadness when I got the inevitable bounce-backs from people who had moved on and changed their email addresses.

So, it was with delight that I got an email this morning from an old friend from college who I had lost contact with. He had googled my name and dropped me a line. I don't think he even knows it is my birthday but I have to say it was the best present I could have had!

Life Begins....

Tomorrow I will be 40 years old. 40? How can it be? The truth of the matter is that I am still in shock since I turned 30 and don’t feel a day over 25! This looming anniversary has made me look back on my life – what I have achieved and what I haven’t. I certainly have packed a hell of a lot into 40 years and can honestly say that I have no regrets. Yet there is still so much to do and I look forward to the coming years with a childlike optimism and enthusiasm.

Recently I have been set a fantastic example by Peppercom’s co-founder Steve Cody (he’s a little bit older than me) who recently decided to fulfil a lifelong ambition and become a stand up comedian. He trained at a comedy institute in New York and just did his first performance at Stand-up NY. Not only did he have the bottle to do it but he even invited his colleagues to come along to witness it. His routine was a resounding success and I am so pleased for him. You can read about it at www.repmanblog.com.

This year I am determined to fulfil some of my own dreams - though maybe not quite as public as Steve’s – and prove that truly ‘life begins at forty’.

Valentines Day Survey

Today a survey came out claiming that more women than men hate Valentines Day. The survey became a topic for debate in the office where everyone had done something for their partner yet everyone agreed that they resented it somewhat and it was just commercial.

I agree but (as someone who didn't get a card, flowers or a dinner out tonight) I still think it is kind of nice to have an excuse to remind someone you love them. That said I didn't send anything myself so the theory that you get back what you give seems to hold true!

E-vil MAIL

Because I remember a time before mobile phones, email. SMS etc., I often think about how things used to be much more simple. The Internet has made the world a smaller place and has opened up a myriad of opportunities. Modern telecommunications have allowed us to do so much more work in a standard day. But I also think they have caused a world of stress too ...not only because of the extra workload but also when it comes to how you are interpreted!

I am sure I am not alone when I say that I have often fired off emails that come across as far more direct than I mean them to be. It seems that any emotion you are feeling can be amplified enormously in an email or a text message. Consequently they become misinterpreted and you end up in a whole world of trouble.

Also people seem to change personality when they write to you instead of speak to you. One of my old clients was really timid and quiet when you were with him in person but as soon as he got to his keyboard he was a lion! Ferocious!

When I look back at that time before email, when you simply had to pick up a phone to communicate, I really do hanker for it. Life really was much less complicated then.

Bit off more than I could chew..

Yesterday I had one of the most horrific experiences of my life. I was waiting for my friend to pick me up from her local station car park. She lives in a small, sleepy town in Surrey - the kind of place that you would expect to see jumble sales organised by the local vicar's wife or families out for a Sunday afternoon bike ride. It is certainly not the sort of place where you expect to see and be attacked by 2 snarling Staffordshire Bull terriers. Yet this is what happened to me.

I was standing waiting with my dog Norbert, on his lead, sat beside me. From out of the blue the two terriers ran at him, teeth bared, snarling, biting. Instinctively I tried to run away with him but they were not giving up. I kept him close so that I could kick them away. I was horrified at even having to do that...being an animal lover there is nothing more horrible than having to kick an animal. But I had to. There was nothing I wouldn't do to try to save him. The blows just glanced off them. They had no impact whatsoever. Knowing the breed as I do, I knew I had to stop them 'locking on' to him. Then he would be dead.

But I was really powerless against them - they ran at me and knocked me down and I let go of Norbert. That was when they pounced on him - going in for the kill. A woman in the car park was beeping her horn furiously, I was screaming at the top of my lungs. Without any thought I grabbed both of their collars and dragged them off him. Terrified, the woman ran out of her car, got my dog and put him in the car and jumped back in herself. Leaving me with two snarling brutes in my hands still desperate to get him.

Now I am not a very strong person. In fact I really don't know how I did it. But I do know that my arms ache and my ribs ache. In fact all of me aches. I let go of the dogs hoping they would run away - but they didn't - they ran at the car jumping up and snarling. The woman had to drive away with me running to keep up behind her. Still they followed until finally we lost them.

Three things from the whole experience stand out to me. Firstly, you just don't know your own strength...or stupidity. I was very lucky not to have been mauled. Secondly, what has happened to community? I was screaming for 5 minutes in a largely residential area and nobody came to help. Thank God for the lady in her car but even she was practically crying when she apologised to me for not getting out to help - she was simply too terrified. Thirdly, there have been many media campaigns about dangerous dogs recently with unprecedented numbers of children being killed by dogs that just suddenly go crazy. I don't blame the dogs you see, I blame the owners. With Big Brother we really saw the power of the media. Now I hope that the media can do more with their campaigns for responsible dog ownership.

PS: To the wonderful person (you know who you are) that helped me deal with all my emotional outpourings in the aftermath, thank you.