by Lindsey Kin
on 02 September 2010
Our team, actually it was our lovely Dalene, who came across Standard Banks’s new campaign in Destiny magazine. The print ad is impressive – and in my own opinion a 'bietjie' better than its partnering ad on TV - if you too have seen their pop-up print add in Destiny magazine, you will know exactly what I am talking about.
The campaign speaks to you (if you’re female of course); me; and the girl (not quite next door, but rather the one who is financially, emotionally, and all things strong). The MyCard product, speaks to me, not shouts, but communicates on a personal way, and its brand personality reflects that of mine.
Do you think Standard Bank has done a fantastic job in getting to understanding the current female consumer, and reflecting this understanding by creating a brand for ‘her’? We would love to hear your comments.
by Leigh Andrews
on 01 September 2010
Ah, Photoshop. Where would our body image be without the ability to enhance the look of digital photos by removing ‘red eye’ in a ‘flash’ (excuse the pun) or lightening a shot to enhance certain features, before we upload them to Facebook? All good and well for personal use, it’s when excessive image editing becomes the staple of the media industry that people start to complain about the effects on body image.
The ‘to Photoshop or not to Photoshop’ debate was raging on Carte Blanche last weekend, while the July issue of Cosmo (often criticised for its excessive cover girl image manipulation) highlighted the debate from a print perspective.
A very ‘colourful’ subject, so I will not go into too much depth. We want you opinions on whether air brushing is a necessary evil, or something that takes away from the art of true photography.
Please add to the conversation below...
by Leigh Andrews
on 31 August 2010
We’ve written lots about the ‘power of PR before, but what about the power of consumer? While PR is what brings the client’s message and call to action under the spotlight, it is up to the consumer to decide if and how they will react to this.
As the end of 2010 approaches, corporate South Africa is accepting the fact that consumers now have more power than before, when mass media meant the audience sat at home, waiting to be touched by a message through the medium. More communication platforms are in use now than ever before, with more on the way. This may well mean that while the mantra of ‘the customer is always right’ is still clung to by businesses, it is now potentially instilling fear into organisations as the consumer does not rely on what is in the media to form an opinion. While publicity is still publicity, the nature of the typical communication model and PR distribution platform has changed, as has the nature of the consumer.
Just this year, we’ve noticed the rise of the i-Consumer, based on the world view that ‘the now’ is more important than the past or the future; a growing trend towards adopting the values of Generation G, which cares about the impact of our actions and wants to assist where possible; a greater embracing of social media, networking and blogs.
Ally Cooper, joint-MD of AllyCats PR, comments: “Consumer engagement and interaction seem to be the new communication buzz words!”
Thoughts? Leave them below.
by Lindsey Kin
on 26 August 2010
In theory, I am up to scratch with the whole trend of moving forward with social media this, and social networking that. In practice, well… I dare to say that I am not as up to scratch as I should be – I mean I have just understood how to work my twitter, and I love it, but now there’s social gaming. I have realised that in order to keep up with the trends, that being digital, I need to practice what I write.
We here day in, and day out, of how consumers have moved towards non-traditional conduits in order to find content relevant to them, on a daily basis. It is then, due to this trend, the obvious, as to why social media platforms have become the principal space for advertisers and marketers alike, to use social networks when connecting with their target market. And, Honda Motors, together with Collective, London-based digital creative agency, have done just that.
As mentioned in my Ed Desk, not everyone is jumping onto the social-gaming bandwagon - including I. Kristen Schweizer, Bloomberg says, “Not everyone is embracing in-games advertising. Bigpoint, one of the largest online game providers, saw the market as ‘still too small for it to be interesting’ for them.”
What is your verdict, are you team Honda or team Bigpoint? Please post your comments below.
by Leigh Andrews
on 24 August 2010
Think ‘PR’, think ‘soap box’. It’s a vehicle for standing above the crowd, clearing your throat, and uttering words that have not been grouped together before in quite the same way, to a crowd of people who will (hopefully) take heed of your message.
This is a somewhat outdated view of the industry and the process, as there have been numerous changes and developments with regard to communication channels of late. Most notably, there’s been a shift to meeting the consumer’s needs – when email became the most popular way of spreading work-related information, there was a similar rise in the trend of emailing press releases through to editors and journalists. When cell phones became an everyday item, the message and medium again changed shape, becoming shorter, snappier, and easy to transmit over the mobile network.
In my eyes, one of the biggest changes has been the move towards the statusphere, with call-to-action campaigns spread across social networks now incorporating a strong social element in that consumers not only take the message to heart, they also get involved and show they care about the cause.
I wonder what the next ‘PR soapbox’ will be - who knows what the future holds? We are in the most interactive era of communication by far. Do you think there’s room for even more, or are we starting to take the focus away from the message and focus too strongly on the medium? Please share your thoughts below.
