Talent showcase Vauxhall Fashion Scout has taken over Freemasons’ Hall in Covent Garden for a week-long event as part of London Fashion Week.
Described as a ‘talent goldmine’ by Vogue.com the event will showcase 130 emerging designers from the past seven seasons.
The media centre has been given a Marie Antionette theme complete with chandeliers, bird cages, fresh flowers, pearls, crystals, masks and sugared almonds.

Refreshments have been supplied by The Little Cakery, Cherry Vimto and Bottle Green, while Dell have provided a range of designer Inspiron laptops.
The show runs until Wednesday 24 February.

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So, were last night’s awards worth tuning in for tomorrow night on RTE2? Lord, the sentence was tense tastic, and probably incorrect, but my brain’s not exactly functioning at even a quarter of its capacity today. Although it’s probably not feeling quite as incapacitated Patrick Bergin’s…

In short, yes, they are. Firstly, Florence was amazing, as was Paulo Nutini, The Temper Trap, in fact most of the acts were. Westlife even tried something new… they freestyled ‘Whuut Abaaaht Naaah’. Yep, no stools *jazz hands* They also went with a spectacular video wall backdrop of glaciers, one expected Morgan Freeman to narrate a verse while the four boys huddled together for heat.

The main reason, however, to tune in tomorrow night is to see the tragic state of Patrick Bergin, which came as a surprise. There were presenting couplings of Una off The Saturdays and Martin the weather King… Yer one off The Clinic and yer wan with the bewbs who used to do Podge ‘n Rodge’s Sticket Inn... Patrick Keilty onstage with Amanda Byram... there was AMPLE opportunity for buttock spasming happenings, and yet it was down to one of our ‘finest actors’ to turn our version of The Grammys into a momentary farce.

Bergin, who was there to present the Humanitarian Award to the wonderful Niall Mellon, rolled up onstage looking like a visually impaired hobo. He then proceeded to give the audience a geography lesson, randomly shouting “Buncranna! Clonakilty! Ballincollig!” He might have gone on to inform us of the mountain ranges and ox-bow lakes on offer in each county, but the floor manager appeared to have made the executive decision to cut his mic. Sadly, you’ll most likely be spared his twaddlings in tomorrow night’s edited version – instead you’ll see him slur sentiments before announcing “And the award for the humanitarian award gooesh tooooh… NIALL MEEELLON.” From that, to Desmond Tutu. What a rollercoaster.Naturally enough, Bergin wasn’t the only presenter to mug the proceedings. Hellew, Mr. Gerry Ryan. When presenting the Best Folk Act award, he managed to mention his radio show in his first breath, before burbling every superlative invented to describe Sharon Shannon, the award’s recipient. He then took far too long to hand over the award, before purposefully and needlessly thanking Sharon and Michelle Heaton (his co-presenter. Indeed she did bring up The Apprentice incident. I was willing a reinactment, slide tackling Jowly off the stage), surly that was Amanda Byram’s job as host, no? Ah. For some, life is one extended audition.

What else will tomorrow night’s footage bring? Adam Clayton having a gloriously geeky Simpsons (’Guys, would you like to see my spoon collection?’) moment when meticulously reading out his spiel before handing Lord Henry Mount Charles the Industry Award… Colin Farrell and Paulo Nutini looking incredible attractive together onstage… the visual spectacle of not one, but TWO stages – one at either end of Simmons Court. One was for presenting, the other for performances… Amanda Byram talking to a load of teenagers’ backs while they squealed at whoever was gracing the opposite stage to perform… Byram’s back-breakingly cringeful one liners (I’d have serious words with the scriptwriters, Amanda)…Things you won’t see tomorrow night are the celebs celebrating/drowning their sorrows in the salubrious confines of The Four Seasons – which is where I ended up… until 4 in the morning. We had Glenda Gilson strutting around the corridors like an Amazonian warrior… Colin Devlin on his phone outside the jacks saying “I didn’t get it, but it was close, very close”… Mundy and The Devlins pulling their bar tables together at approximately 3am… Pixie Lott saying in The Ice Bar “No, I’m not going to the afterparty, it’s too far away” (in fairness, it was in the Wright Venue. In Swords. That’s a fair whack away from Ballsbridge. Which begs the question – did anyone make the trek?)… Rumblings of Colin Farrell going into the toilets, leading to an en masse toilet trip for several females, and just as many males… Rumours of Florence Welch being in the front bar, but I couldn’t find her. Some drunkard probably saw the back of my head and thought she decided to hobble through the foyer on her knees after one too many whiskies… The Script bounding out of their swish car… Patrick Bergin being brought in to the foyer bar, flanked by two female fans… that is when we decided it was time to slope home.

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“More and more hotels are looking at online marketing tools like social media site Facebook to help them bring guests through the doors”, writes Alex Gibson.

The Irish hotel sector has been rocked by the perfect storm of over-capacity, a sharp weakening in the value of sterling and the dollar, and the falling away of demand from the domestic sector. A recent survey from the Irish Hotels Federation indicated that only about 10% of hotels could expect to turn a profit in 2009, and even this may prove an optimistic assessment if the stories of cancelled Christmas parties are to be confirmed, thereby taking away the last glimmer of hope for many of them.

Against this backdrop the marketing teams of Irish hotels are expected to perform something akin to a loaves and fishes act – getting more rooms filled and protecting the rate at the same time. The evidence appears to be that, while there has been deep price cutting, it has not served to increase demand – something that a first year economics student might have pointed out was an inevitable outcome in a recession.

The era of €20 rooms in Ballsbridge may have heralded a short-term boost in that locale, but it’s left a bitter taste in the mouth of most hoteliers. The average room rate in Dublin is now one of the lowest in Europe’s capital cities according to Smith Travel Research. And what’s more worrying perhaps is that increasing this will be a long climb.

I recently attended a conference in Canada where the head of STR said that it might take a full ten years for US hotel rates to return to their pre-recession levels, and it seems likely to me that this is equally the case here. Yet among the gloom there are examples of hotels that are, if not quite bucking the trend, at least pointing the way to recovery. The recession has certainly caused the hotel sector to radically re-evaluate the way that it runs marketing campaigns. The Celtic Tiger economy led to an over-reliance on domestic marketing where traditional channels such as print advertising and direct mail had dominated in the budget allocations; with that market gone more innovation is called for to reach niche markets via the internet.

The tourism industry has been to the fore in exploiting the internet’s potential not just in terms of lowering distribution costs and increasing marketing coverage, but also as a tool to really engage the customer. As customer empowerment is facilitated by sites such as Tripadvisor, Dealbase and Aboutanywhere, hotels will have to be more conscious of the need to be ever present in responding to the opportunities provided.

This degree of nimbleness required is magnified even more when it comes to social media. In this environment people talk a lot about the hospitality product, where they’ve been, where they’ve stayed, what they did. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are perfect social environment for hotels to, in the first instance, listen to conversations about their sector, their competitors and, yes about themselves.

I recently chaired the Hotel Website Marketing conference (www.hotelwebsitemarketing.com) where one of the speakers, Guillame Thevanot from Hotel-Blogs.net,  pointed to the dramatic rise in social media influenced sites where people could effectively organize their own collective clubs to drive down prices from hoteliers – expect to see more of this ‘people-power’ emerge in the future. Sites such as Inoqo.com are examples of how the hotel marketing process is moving more towards a model that will require a dexterity of approach hitherto not seen before. It’s also the case that hotel marketers will have to perform a role as destination marketers as much as product marketers. Sure, the national tourism agencies will continue to have a key role in building the attractiveness of Ireland as a destination, but if we are to take anything from the emergence of social media as a powerful driver of demand, then the hotel industry itself will have to exploit the opportunities to join the conversation with prospective visitors.

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Cadbury is the first FMCG brand to sign up to Yahoo! and Nectar’s new online advertising service, Yahoo! Consumer Connect, which draws on Nectar card data.

The service, first revealed by Marketing in August last year, uses data from 20,000 opted-in Yahoo! and Nectar customers to target consumers with relevant ads, based on their previous shopping behaviour. Nectar tracks the shopping behaviour of its cardholders in supermarket partner Sainsbury’s.

A similar service, called Consumer Direct, has been available in the US since 2003. The US version has been used by brand owners including Kraft Foods and Nestlé.

However, Cadbury is the first brand to launch a campaign across all Yahoo! sites in the UK for its Crème Egg brand, via media agency PHD.

The campaigns will involve identifying key target groups. A predictive model of this target group’s online behaviour is built using the opt-in Yahoo! Consumer Connect panel. Yahoo! will deliver advertising to other users whose behaviour most closely matches the model.

Yahoo! Consumer Connect will then track the success of the campaigns against offline purchase behaviour.

Mark Rabe, managing director and vice-president of sales, Yahoo! UK and Ireland, said: “The service is a silver bullet to improve brand building. For the first time, UK advertisers will have a simple way to track offline sales from online advertising campaigns, driving accountability all the way through to return on investment.”

David Buckingham, commercial director for Groupe Aeroplan’s insight and communication division, said: “FMCG is the last vertical to advertise online. This is the holy grail that will change that.”

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LONDON – From The X Factor to Sky HD, Marketing picks the five stand-out media brands of 2009.

1 The X Factor

Event television at its best, The X Factor attracted record audiences and acres of press coverage this year. With brands not only fighting it out to sponsor the show, but also producing X Factor-themed ads, it proves that popular content and high production values are commercially viable.

2 Look

In a challenging market, the continued success of IPC’s fashion weekly, both on the newsstands and commercially, is testament to the strength of good ideas well executed. Look is a title that has forged ahead in developing a strong brand in a short time frame, and continues to innovate.

3 The Times

With great marketing, compelling content and a fantastic array of supplements, The Times has been a standout success in what has been a bleak year for the newspaper industry. Next year publisher News International plans to take on the thorny issue of charging for content online, as it is looks at ways of profiting from its digital editions.

4 Sky HD

Sky HD really began to prove its worth this year, gaining particular traction with sports fans. The broadcaster’s continued strength in a tough climate suggests that consumers are willing to pay for quality innovation.

5 Capital Radio

In a hard year for commercial radio, Capital’s turnaround story is particularly compelling. The station’s breakfast show, hosted by Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon, held on to its position as London’s most-popular show in the Rajars; the station also implemented its new events strategy, putting its marketing muscle behind its Jingle Bell Ball.

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Are you Interested in one of these cutting edge courses & would like to save some money? All you have to do is Refer A Friend to Fitzwilliam Institute – once they enrol on a any of our Postgraduate or Diploma Courses you will receive a €100 off your Course Fees!

It’s never been harder to keep up with the latest web trends – with the expansion onto mobile platforms, the growth of social media and the need for start ups to be aware of new SEO techniques.

As a result, we’ve assembled a team of web experts to help you and your business keep on top of the most important trends on the web. Constructing a mobile website, creating social media campaigns and selling online are just some of the challenges businesses will face during 2010.

Here are top online trends for the next 12 months.
Every web-savvy business knows smartphone use is on the rise. But few are actively developing for mobiles by creating websites specifically used for handheld devices.

As more and more mobile users flock to gadgets with larger touchscreens and internet browsers, such as the iPhone or Google Nexus One, the mobile space will become bigger and SMEs need to get on board. If your website isn’t accessible through a smartphone or app, users will give up and go somewhere else – losing you traffic and potential sales.

Ovum analyst Nathan Burley says the number of people taking up smartphones instead of traditional handsets will require businesses to develop mobile websites.

“In our view there are two big trends that will occur in 2010. That is mobile broadband and the adoption of smartphones, and the impact of those two things on the industry. This is changing the way people access the internet, and that is in mobile.”

“The big change is that these smartphones are allowing people to use tools in the same way a laptop did in the past, which is opening more users to the internet on the go.”

Chris Thomas, chief executive of SEO firm Reseo, says 2010 will be “the year of the mobile”.

“I think mobile search is definitely here. Google is throwing a lot of money at mobile, and it’s going to be really interesting to see how businesses leverage that.”

SEO

Using search engine algorithms in order to get your site on “page one” has been a tactic used by online businesses for years. But SEO experts say the process of getting a website known will become even harder in 2010 with the rise of personalised and real-time search.

Social network Twitter sparked a trend when it designed the first popular real-time search engine. When users search for a term, the site would update that search with new “tweets” as they were being made.

Google has recently introduced a real-time search function of its own, complete with indexed tweets, while Microsoft Bing has made a deal to show tweets in search results. But Thomas says while 2010 will see a rise in real-time search traffic, businesses shouldn’t be too keen to pursue a dedicated real-time search strategy.

“I think people are still trying to figure out what to do with it. Perhaps if there’s a trending topic, such as Copenhagen or climate change, that’s where we could see real-time do some work because there’s an opportunity for someone selling solar panels to come in, using a message like “stop climate change” via solar panels or something. There is some real potential there.”

“This is where it could go, but it’s such an active industry, with optimisation and SEO changing. But I always say to our clients, stick to your knitting and don’t do anything silly.”

Jim Stewart, chief executive of Stewart Media, says real-time search will continue to grow but businesses need to be aware of the more subtle changes Google is making to its search algorithms.

“All of the normal SEO things still apply, even though Google is going forward with things like personalised search. That will surely play a part, but you still have to get on the front page at all before you get into someone’s personal search results.”

Stewart warns Google will be updating its speed-check feature, through which the engine checks how fast it takes for a user to connect to a website. If a business has any downtime, it could affect search rankings.

But Stewart also says Google could potentially lose its place as the top search engine, as users could migrate to other offerings or be wary of the company’s search power.

“I don’t believe the search engine is providing as relevant results as it did this time last year. I’m sure they know it, but it doesn’t seem to be working as well. I’d also love to think that people will begin to start using Bing more and more, but it has to become a better search engine before that happens.”

“The other thing is privacy. A lot of people already are pretty wary of Google and privacy issues, even to the point where Eric Schmidt said if you’re doing something on the web you don’t want people to know, then maybe you shouldn’t be doing it.”

Social Media

Facebook and Twitter were the standout social networks from 2009, and their popularity will surge in 2010 with both introducing new features, including paid accounts for business.

But businesses need to pay attention to the trends on these sites. Creating a social media strategy is no longer optional, it is vital to the health of a company and its ability to tap into an online user-base.

Some experts say if you aren’t engaging online, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to gain new customers and fans who will effectively market for you if given enough reason.

Thomas says 2010 will be the year in which businesses must jump on social media or risk being left behind by the competition.

“If you don’t have a Facebook fan page you should get in, and if you’re in a community-minded space, where you can offer things like competitions and such, then you’re set.”

James Griffin, founder and chief executive of online reputation management company SR7, says this year will see the rise of analysts who will begin to convince businesses to study, track and move operations into social media.

“Analysts will be versed in understanding and using social media, the quantitative and qualitative reports will empower businesses to implement researched social media strategies and gather market intelligence.”

Online retail

More and more Australian businesses are selling online, but compared to the US we have a lot of catching up to do. Online spending has grown from 1% to 3% of overall spending over the last 10 years, compared to the American equivalent of 7%.

Hal Pritchard, founder and chief executive of online kitchenware retailer Everton Online, says 2010 should be the year in which businesses start to realise they cannot operate without an eCommerce offering.

“The whole market in general is maturing. I think some of the people who didn’t want to do it originally are now deciding they have to do it, because if I count the number of competitors I have now compared to last year, there’s certainly a lot more out there.”

Pritchard says the biggest trend emerging in Australia is the growth of free shipping, which has allowed retailers in the US to stand out from the crowd.

“Freight is getting lower and is free in some places, which I suspect is going to be a general trend as competition hots up. Margins will get even tighter, and affording these things will be difficult, but I think it’s one of the things that are happening.”

“We seem to be following the US as we progress, and we’re less far behind and I think that free freight is the next thing. But it’s not just about that, it’s about pushing the boundaries and staying on the edge, not just having a good website. The people who can innovate and stay ahead will do well.”

Advertising

The internet advertising industry continued to grow in 2009 and will do the same in 2010, but the next 12 months is expected to see the ongoing development of mobile advertising.

Last year the Interactive Advertising Bureau forecast the online ad market to pass $2 billion by next month, representing a 27% increase from 2008. While the downturn forced spending down in 2009, it’s safe to assume that figure will rise in 2010.

The mobile advertising scene is fairly new, so naturally few SMEs are actually investing in the sector. But Apple’s recent acquisitions of Quattro, along with Google’s purchase of AdMob, shows the big players are serious about the mobile space.

But Thomas says businesses should think about advertising on prominent sites such as social networks, in order to keep up with the market.

“In the last 12 months we have started various campaigns using Facebook ads with quite good success, and it’s getting better. Businesses should be taking advantage of the solid targeting available through sites like Facebook.”

“We’re certainly seeing more advertising on Twitter. You have sites now which are allowing companies to hire someone with a million followers to tweet their messages. I mean, it’ll cost you, but the return on investment of that tweet could be huge.”

YouTube senior product manager David King says the growth of viral content, pieces of media published online which gain popularity in a short amount of time, are opening businesses up to new advertising models.

He says if a business finds a piece of content it created on a YouTube video, it can choose to place an in-video or AdWords advertisements rather than claim a copyright violation.

“These advertising structures are really geared towards taking control of what users upload. It’s only relevant if you’re uploading content, but if you are a small business and are doing that, this could be relevant for you.”

Reputation management

Most businesses are at least operating a website, but even those rejecting the online space need to be aware of how fast rumours and allegations can fly in the digital age. Several companies have had their reputations tarnished within hours from the activities of either rogue employees, or a botched advertising campaign.

Griffin says businesses need to control their reputation by monitoring what people are saying about them.

“The answer is, companies have been pushed into conducting a social media marketing campaigns without research and without adequately addressing the risk factors associated with social media.”

“2010 will see companies embracing the need to address the inherent risks of social media, with enterprises moving towards a scientific and empirically based approach to managing risk.”

Last year, Domino’s Pizza landed itself into trouble when two employees posted a video of themselves handling food unhygienically on the internet. Cotton On experienced backlash on Facebook when it continued to sell baby clothes with slogans such as “They Shake Me”.

Griffin says businesses can avoid such catastrophes by carefully monitoring who is talking about their brand, and being ready to address any situation as quickly as it appeared.

“The many and varied social media ‘fails’ of 2008-2009 will see companies and institutions take a measured, risk-based approach to these platforms.”

“Auditing, monitoring and analysing social media platforms along with risk mitigation strategies will become standard fare for those companies looking to protect and enhance their brand on social media platforms.”

Marketing

While mobile advertising may be taking awhile to heat up, many businesses are developing new and interesting mobile marketing campaigns to draw people into their stores.

Google has developed a system whereby users take a picture of a barcode with their mobile phone and use the search engine to find information. Closer to home, Hoyts Cinemas currently runs a promotion where movie goers with Bluetooth activated on their handsets sometimes receive discount offers via text messages when they walk into a lobby.

But it isn’t just big companies which are using mobiles for marketing. Peter Shipman, who owns a casual Mexican restaurant in the US, bought ads in university newspapers to advertise a barcode sent through text messages used to claim discounts.

US company Jagtag is now developing a technology used to identify barcodes through camera phones, when it is then sent via text message in order for the user to receive a discount code.

Thomas says this year will see a number of companies bring mobile marketing strategies to the forefront of their campaigns.

“There are going to be some really good creative ways people will start to get customers in store, and sending messages out like that… providing they don’t break any spam laws.”

“We’re going to see these companies start to realise how much activity is occurring through mobiles, and then we’re going to see them respond by commissioning campaigns of their own.”

Thomas also says a number of companies will begin to commission mobile apps, especially on the iPhone, purely for marketing purposes. Whether this will gain them revenue or purely open their brand to a new audience, the mobile apps market will become part of an online business’s marketing strategy in 2010.

Content

The growth of the internet has allowed businesses to publish content of their own, including blogs, pictures and even videos. King says SMEs should think about creating some sort of content on YouTube or similar sites such as a tutorial, and see a fan base grow.

“There are a lot of smaller to medium sized businesses which have really operated with a focus of specifically gearing themselves towards publishing on YouTube, and they really make a go of it – and we give them a global audience to do so.”

But King warns businesses they must be generating useful content, without the appearance of a blatant marketing pitch, and not be scared of entering a new area where they might not have experience.

“As these things become more commonplace, consumers love them, but unfortunately businesses which have been relying on older business models do not. I really think they need to get over that a little bit. Ultimately the consumer is right, and they are going to spend their time the way they spend it.”

“Businesses need to really stay focused on that consumer experience and not get hung up on the comfort of the way things used to be. The more businesses can try and anticipate where things can go as opposed to stopping it, I think that’s the best place to be for them.”

Open Source

Once upon a time, businesses wouldn’t trust open-source programs in favour of branded, more trustworthy software solutions. But now open-source has given SMEs a way of operating high-end programs without substantial costs.

With popular programs such as Mozilla Thunderbird, Open Office, WordPress and Joomla now gaining notoriety, organisations are beginning to realise open-source programs aren’t just technically inferior rip-offs, but legitimate alternatives.

A number of organisations, including the British Government and the French police force, have openly supported open-source, while Gartner research from late-2008 indicates the majority of businesses in the Asia/Pacific region took up open-source in 2009.

And with the development and popularity of open-source Android operating system continuing to grow, open-source is likely to play a major part in a business’s IT strategy in 2010.

Cloud computing

Two years ago “cloud computing” was viewed by many businesses as a buzzword with no particular meaning, used by tech-heads who didn’t quite know what they were talking about.

Now, using cloud services has become an essential for businesses. Whether they are backing up their data or using a piece of software hosted on external servers, cloud computing is now a part of everyday operations for many SMEs.

Cloud services have branched out into three main categories: applications, also known as software-as-a-service, infrastructure, used for data backups, and internal service providers for businesses with customised apps and programs.

Analyst firm Gartner recently named cloud computing as one of the top strategic technologies for 2010, saying it could be exploited in a number of different ways to customise programs and apps to a particular company’s needs.

“Using cloud resources does not eliminate the costs of IT solutions, but does rearrange some and reduce others. In addition, consuming cloud services enterprises will increasingly act as cloud providers and deliver application, information or business process services to customers and business partners.”

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Michael Dwyer has been introducing brands to customers online a long time before digital marketing and online engagement became popular. He talks to John McGee about digital marketing and the challenges facing brands.

When Michael Dwyer came up with the idea trying to get companies interact with customers in an online environment nine years ago, many people thought he had taken leave of his senses. While it was the height of the dotcom era and internet start-ups were thick on the ground, only a handful of enlightened companies actually understood what he was trying to achieve. Thankfully, for Dwyer that has changed.

“I nearly couldn’t believe the very positive way in which consumers reacted to brands on our site back in 2000. I knew we were onto something. Scale was the immediate challenge. That’s where the marketing investment came in and by year 3 or 4 we had recruited enough members to shift the dial for any brand,” he says.

“In the beginning there were two contrasting groupings.  On the one hand, there were those who embraced it or got it and were passionate about it. They were great ambassadors and are still to this day.  On the other hand, there were the doubters who said that they couldn’t see how we make money so they didn’t trust it or that we were another product of the dotcom boom and we wouldn’t last. Then there were a few who actually didn’t think the internet would actually catch on,” says Dwyer.

Nine years later, it is Dwyer who is having the last laugh and many of the brash dotcom contemporaries at the time have fallen by the wayside. Despite a few bumps along the way, the company now boasts over 300,000 active members in Ireland and another 400,000 in the UK. That’s 700,000 people interacting and engaging with a wide range of brands several times a week.

From the outset the company has pioneered a self-developed genre of marketing called empathy marketing. In a nutshell empathy marketing encourages users to engage with brands by choice through opt-in permission. The engagement is carefully managed, relevant to the customer and uses a softly softly approach when it comes to communicating.. In return users get a wide range of incentives like prizes, money-off vouchers and points which are awarded for purchases.

According to Dwyer, Pigsback.com earns its money from the brands that pay to have their products showcased while it also generates affiliate income from certain purchases made through the site. In other words it’s a very sophisticated slick form of online advertising and marketing that ultimately leads to an engagement between the brand and the customer. The brand is happy to have sold some product and have a brand supporter, the customer is happy to have received a discount or a prize and Dwyer is happy to have facilitated the interaction. And not a CPM, CPC or CPA in sight!

Getting companies and brands to buy-in to the concept was a little tricky in the early days. “I suppose the other big challenge was inertia,” he says ” Believe it or not but a lot of marketing practitioners doubted the role Internet would play and a few still do. I don’t know what planet they are living on. It’s difficult for people to change their ways and to depart from the historic certainty of TVRs into a very uncertain and fragmented digital world. It was difficult for the early adopters to bring their organisations with them – their bosses and colleagues were stakeholders in the decision to do anything with Pigsback.com. The early adopters stuck their necks out and I will be eternally grateful to them. That was a brave thing to do and often met with scepticism and doubt, even in the face of very compelling results.”

Brands that the company has worked with since its inception include Tesco, BT, Disney, Apple, John West, GAP, Nestle, MBNA, Guinness, Barclays, Weight Watchers, L’Oreal, Bailey’s and 3 Mobile.

Apart from the standard advertising on the Pigsback.com site and newsletters, the company offers brands a range of other solutions like sponsorship, tailor-made microsites, coupons, product testing and sampling. Through a separate company called Empathy Marketing, and which is headed up by Angela Healy, it offers a range of consumer research services.

According to Dwyer, the importance of digital marketing for brands should never be underestimated. ” “I think most brands no longer doubt the importance of online and know that it’s a matter of time before it is the number one draw on their spend and on their time. All marketers are facing much tougher challenges than anything I remember, as they try to project their brands and businesses into a radically changed media environment. All bets are off. There are no certainties. A typical consumer’s attention will be split between her laptop, phone, digital TV remote control -with a feverish enthusiasm for the fast forward button at the ad break- and there is and will be a growing resistance to consuming advertising content. So the integration of brands into content and environments that are more entertaining or possibly more rewarding will be critical,” he says.

You could say that Pigsback.com was way ahead of its time. Now brands are falling over themselves in the scramble to get online and there is a seismic shift in the allocation of marketing budgets in favour of digital engagements.

“I think we were ahead of our time and that was sore financially in the first year or two, but we had no choice. We couldn’t leave the space to someone else and needed to bide our time. But we are very excited about the prospects for digital and for our business as we enter our second decade. We have to keep evolving to stay relevant for brands and consumers but that’s a challenge every business has. Thankfully, the brand and proposition have shown a certain staying power, so hopefully we’ll be around for a while yet,” says Dwyer.

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Although the fundamental need for human interaction remains undiminished, the benefits of virtual events are starting to make an impact.

Apart from being a dire year for the economy, and one in which several A-list celebrities shuffled off this mortal coil (RIP MJ), 2009 will probably be best remembered as the year social media really reached its tipping point.

Facebook added 150 million users to its database from January to September alone, doubling its following to 300 million, while Twitter’s traffic grew immensely, capturing the attention of the event industry and resulting in industry-specific ‘TweetUps’.

The social revolution is upon us, or so we’re told. So what’s in store for 2010? Well, apart from another good year for social media sites, one trend that could usher in a further fundamental change to the way we communicate is the emergence of virtual events.

Events in a computer-simulated environment aren’t anything new – “We’ve been talking about them since the dawn of the internet. Yes, decades ago,” says Jack Morton Worldwide director of technology solutions Chris Haff – but months of shrinking budgets have led to them becoming ‘newly urgent’.

“There’s an old saying that necessity is the mother of invention,” Haff adds. “Faced with tough times, people have a knack for creating breakthrough innovations to meet new challenges.”

Most of us will have at least heard of Second Life, the 3D virtual world developed by Linden Lab, but there is a veritable treasure trove of ‘virtual experience platforms’ out there, just as there is an array of firms that specialise in producing events within them.

Immersive spaces specialist Rivers Run Red is one such firm. In 2007 it created Secondfest, the world’s largest virtual festival, on behalf of clients Intel and The Guardian.

Using Second Life as its platform, Rivers Run Red built an immersive festival environment incorporating several stages, chill-out areas and even a mud pit where revellers could have a virtual mud fight. The event attracted more than 15,000 visitors over three days and featured more than 60 acts, including headliners Pet Shop Boys, New Young Pony Club and Groove Armada.

The Guardian encouraged readers to attend online by giving advice on how to set up their own Second Life digital persona (known as an avatar), while Rivers Run Red advertised it through other forms of digital media.

More recently, in September this year mixed-reality events pioneer Virtually Linked hosted a Virtual London Fashion Week event in Second Life, to coincide with the actual event in the capital. The former incorporated a catwalk show by British designer Maria Grachvogel, who created 3D graphic versions of her collection to be modelled on avatars.

Outside of Second Life, major companies such as Jack Morton Worldwide and United Business Media (UBM) have set up their own virtual experience platforms in which to host events. UBM now has a portfolio of four virtual exhibitions, at which visitors can explore booths, attend seminars and chat to exhibitors and peers in real time, just like at a real exhibition, but without all the associated costs of travelling.

With so many big names jumping on the bandwagon, it begs the question whether virtual events are the next step in this so-called social revolution. Ian Hughes, founder of virtual world consulting company Feeding Edge, seems to think so. At a seminar at this year’s Event UK, hosted by the Institute of Travel and Meetings (ITM) and Eventia, he pointed out the benefits of virtual experience platforms such as Second Life for events.

“There has been a huge social change in the way we communicate,” says Hughes. “People are gathering online to solve problems; it is part of the evolution of human communication. We have to take virtual events seriously. The virtual world might require a bit more effort than Facebook, but it allows you to put a memory to it – it’s still about people and is much more personal than sending emails.”

Fellow panellist Justin Bovington, CEO of Rivers Run Red, agreed: “Some platforms require a download, which can be frustrating. By its very nature, navigating a 3D space is harder; it’s not something we’re used to.”

Yet he was adamant the results far outweigh these initial inconveniences: “Virtual events allow you to create a sustained communication. They enable organisers to prolong an event’s life, keeping the dialogue going so visitors can go back again and carry on where they left off.”

As an experiment, the same seminar was held in Second Life the next day. The results showed that delegates found it more straightforward to register and obtain feedback from the live event, but easier to interact with other delegates and speakers in the virtual event. The results also suggested that those ‘attending’ the virtual event saved approximately 690kg of CO2 by not going to the real EventUK seminar.

“There are clearly some lessons to be learned on the engagement with delegates prior to the event, and people preferred hearing from real-life speakers in the flesh,” says ITM chief executive Paul Tilstone.

“The statistics on interaction, however, are interesting because they demonstrate that virtual technology actually aids interaction rather than hinders it as one might expect, so clearly this aspect could drive the technology application for certain types of event.”

The virtual event, then, does seem an attractive option, but according to Haff we’d be mistaken to think it could ever replace human interaction. “Virtual events address a need for people and brands to connect in a way that enhances and amplifies, but will never replace connecting face to face,” he says.

For him, the exciting prospect is bringing each of these channels together to make one ’super event’: “There is an exciting opportunity to wed the benefits of face to face with the huge potential of online and social media channels, to create 360 degs experience campaigns that span from the virtual to the physical, dramatically extending the reach and impact of both.”

BENEFITS OF THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE

Chris Haff, Jack Morton Worldwide

- Decreases costs Creates a balanced portfolio of live and virtual experiences

- Increases reach Brings a live experience to people who cannot participate in person, due to reasons such as location, timing or cost

- Amplifies impact Builds on other forms of communication to enhance conversations and broaden networks

- Customises experiences Provides a virtual experience in which stakeholders can participate in ways that are relevant and effective for them

- Maintains relationships Takes advantage of the lower costs and shorter format to connect with key audiences more often than normal

- Leverages marketing assets Allows stakeholders to use content from live events or add rich media from other marketing sources, as well as use new materials that are generated virtually for future needs and campaigns

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For young people who have decided that a career in public relations will be their Latte Grande in life, here are four situations in which you do not want to find yourself:

1. You confuse the basic function of public relations with
sub-parts that make up the whole like publicity,
crisis management or employee communications.

2. You feel unsure in approaching public relations problems,
then uncertain about what counsel to give your
employer/client.

3. As the years pass, you rely on career-long misconceptions
about public relations but forge ahead anyway advising
the employer/client ineffectively sometimes with damaging,
if not dangerous counsel.

4. You realize too late that you have gone through your entire
career without a firm grasp of what public relations is
all about.

You can avoid those pitfalls by grasping early-on The Rosetta Stone of public relations, i.e., a guide to understanding the discipline and its core strength. Namely, people act on their perception of the facts; those perceptions lead to certain behaviors; and something can be done about those perceptions and behaviors that lead to achieving an organization’s objectives.

Which is why, when public relations goes on to successfully create, change or reinforce public opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-action those people whose behaviors affect the organization, it accomplishes its mission.

The fact is that NO organization – business, non-profit or public sector – can succeed today unless the behaviors of its most important audiences are in-sync with the organization’s objectives. And that means public relations professionals must modify somebody’s behavior if they are to help hit the employer/client’s objective and earn a paycheck. All else are but means to that end.

Once that foundation of understanding is firmly set, an action pathway begins to appear:

– identify the problem or challenge
– set the public relations goal
– set the public relations strategy
– identify target audiences
– prepare persuasive messages
– select/implement key communications tactics
– monitor progress
– and the end game? Meet the behavior modification goal.

A bonus: you are using a near-perfect public relations performance measurement. I mean how can you measure the results of an activity more accurately than when you clearly achieve the goal you set at the beginning of that activity? You can’t. It’s pure success.

So, as a beginner, can you expect to avoid the four pitfalls listed above? Yes, and here’s why:

– With proper preparation, you will not confuse action
tactics with the basic mission of public relations because
you will know precisely what each is and just what fits
where in the public relations problem solving sequence.

– You will feel more confident about providing counsel to
the employer/client because the public relations problem at
hand can be clearly identified allowing you to select
solutions that obviously fit into the action sequence
outlined above. You will identify your target audiences
because you will know exactly who your employer/client
wants to reach, and the necessary action tactics will
then be self-evident.

– You realize that you have gone through your entire career
WITH a firm, successful grasp of what public relations
is all about.

Of course, on the way you will also nurture the relationships between your target audiences and your employer/client’s business by burnishing the reputation of the organization, its service and products. You will do your best to persuade those target audiences to do what your employer/client wants them to do. And while seeking public understanding and acceptance of that employer/client, you’ll ensure that your joint activities not only comply with the law, but clearly serve the public interest. Then, you will pull out all tactical stops to actually move those individuals to action. And your employer/client will be pleased that you have brought matters along to this point.

But when will that employer/client of yours be fully satisfied with the public relations results you have produced? Only when your “reach, persuade and move-to-action efforts have produced that visible modification in the behaviors of those target audiences you, and they wish to influence.

In my view, this is the central, strategic function of public relations – the basic context in which you must operate in your pursuit of a successful and satisfying public relations career.

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