A sob story too far?

Even if if you claim you don't like it, it's hard to resist watching people making a fool of themselves on national TV, and the X-Factor auditions certainly provide plenty of them. Has nobody ever told them they can't sing / rap / dance??

Unfortunately, with the hilariously misguided auditionees also come the sob stories, you know the ones, a Westlife track starts playing in the background, Dermot's voice goes down a tone.."Sharon has come a long way to be here today. She lost her dog when she was seven and is here to make Fido proud" etc etc.

Last week, contestant Alan Turner was no different "I just want t'make me real family proud" he said in front a swooning Cheryl and Danni. Alan told judges he was put into foster care at the age of four and doesn't know his real family. The X Factor is apparently his only chance to change all that.

But in the emotion of the audition it appears that the poor fella got confused, by 'foster care' he actually meant his Nan, and by 'I just want...to know my real mum and my real dad' he meant that he spoke to his Dad regularly until last year. Oops.

Do contestants really need a sob story to get them through the rounds? Or is it the X-Factor producers doing their best to seek out even the most tenuous link to a troubled past to get some good TV?

As one X-Factor spokesperson put it, the confusion was 'unfortunate'. But for who? Alan got himself through to the finals, where he and his half decent voice are staying despite the furore, and the X-Factor got some PR different to 'Danni: What I really think of Cheryl' in Heat magazine. All publicity is good publicity right?

Helen

Tackling UK business waste

A parliamentary committee has announced that the Government needs to step up effects to reduce waste from businesses.

I wholeheartedly agree with this because even though we are a small office, it is surprising how much rubbish we manage to accumulate, particularly through the amount of newspapers and magazines we track for our clients.

Here in the Gemini office we are careful not to print unnecessary documents and always make use of scrap paper, however it is not always easy to recycle. We do have a recycle bin, but even that got took away at one point and we had to call a number of different people to get it back.

It definitely needs to be made easier for people to be able to recycle else other wise many may just choose to not to bother, however lazy that sounds.


Emma

Clarkson for PM

There's been a real sense of humour failure at Conservative HQ this week.

After 55,000 people called for Top Gear presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, to become Prime Minister in a recent petition (I believe I'm included in that number), 10 Downing Street has produced a 'jokey' 55 second video clip for it's You Tube site in response.

Not the type to let a good PR opportunity go to waste, the Tories quickly released a statement which said: "While the British public is having to tighten its belts, the government is spending taxpayers' money on a completely frivolous project." (bbc.co.uk/news)

They also said it showed that the Government had lost touch with reality, I personally think this is first thing they've done that I can relate to in a long time.

Downing Street insist it was produced without any cost, by a member of staff who had a spare half hour, and probably enjoyed every second of making the clip.

I didn't realise a dwindling economy meant we all have to trade in our sense of humour too. Lighten up chaps.

Helen

Super Saturday & Sunday!

Saturday was hyped up to be ‘the’ day of the Olympics for Great Britain, but it turned into a winning weekend for our sportsmen and women!

The best thing was not just the number of medals we won, but the diversity of sports – cycling, swimming, rowing, sailing and gymnastics, and the number of double medallists, Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and Rebecca Adlington won two gold medals each and Ben Ainslie picking up his third gold in as many Games- the Sports Personality of the year will be a tough one this year!

My overseas vote though is for Michael Phelps closely followed by Usain Bolt! What a 100m final...I haven’t seen anyone win by that much for a long long time – there was no dipping for the photo finish needed there! Part of me was a little bit disappointed that Bolt didn’t ‘run through the line’ so we could see exactly how fast he can go, but I know it was more about the victory than the times.

I am eagerly awaiting the results for the next six days!!

Ruth

Staying ahead of the game

Spend on marketing and PR is often one of the first things to be cut when business conditions get tougher as it is generally viewed as expenditure that is not critical to the business.

Yet when trading conditions are more difficult, that is just the time when you need to stay ahead of the game - and your competitors – and marketing plays a key role in helping you to do just that.

It is no good running a business with your head in the sand. You need to think about ways in which you can communicate cost effectively with the people you need to reach – your customers/clients, suppliers, staff, business contacts and other people important to your business, both existing and potential. There are lots of ways in which you can do this; through advertising, media relations activity, promotional material, direct mail and networking to name but a few.

Rather than cutting out the marketing budget altogether, it is more advisable to make sure your spend works harder for you and ensuring it is cost effective. Particularly important is expenditure on marketing communications.

It’s essential to know how to get best value for money and ensure that your spend gains you maximum advantage in terms of profile and securing new business opportunities. For instance, the current economic climate is putting pressure on the media to ensure that advertising rates are competitive, so you may be able to get some good deals if you decide to book advertising. Don’t forget to use any advertising spend as leverage to see if you can secure some editorial coverage as well. Obviously this is not always possible but it is certainly worth exploring.

Media relations activity is also a cost effective way of helping you to secure new business. A well planned media relations programme will often generate significant coverage and be highly effective. It is also important to go out and network with the people that are going to make a difference to your business.

In isolation though, individual promotional activities are not going to give you the best results; a planned approach using a combination of activities is going to be more effective and you don’t necessarily need to have the specialist resources in house to handle this for you.

Outsourcing your marketing and PR (or certain parts of it like media relations activity) to an external agency rather than having them in house can prove to be a highly cost effective solution. It means your fixed costs are lower and also that you have access to experienced specialists on a part time ongoing basis or you can call on their services as and when you need them.

Whilst a business may survive in the short term with little or no marketing, it won’t in the longer term. So if you are going to survive the current credit crunch and come out the other side, marketing does need to stay on your business agenda. Just make sure you spend wisely!
Dianne

Golden Girls being Olympic Campaign

Unusually I was pleased that the weather was so bad at the weekend as it meant I didn’t have to feel guilty about watching hours and hours of the Olympics on TV.
On Saturday, thanks to the BBC multi screen, I watched the gymnastics, rowing and archery as well as cyclist Nicole Cooke - who took a spectacular gold medal in the pouring rain.

My cycling ace sister used to race against Nicole ten years ago and even then she was an incredibly determined and focused athlete so she really does deserves the gold. A ten year campaign has reached the pinnacle of her career, but at just 25 she could make it a double in London 2012.

I was also thrilled this morning to watch the highlights from the women’s 400m individual freestyle where Nottinghamshire’s own Rebecca Adlington took the gold, with Jo Jackson taking the bronze...you go girls!

Great start to the games, and I can’t wait for the rest of it to unfold...I’ll be watching the athletics closely as another athlete I competed against, Jennifer Meadows begins her challenge to win the 800m on the track...

Ruth

Stay away from our tot!

Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban have pleaded with paparazzi to stay away from their new born daughter Sunday Rose because they frighten her.

“I get the interest there is, but it’s our little girl,” said Keith. “Sometimes people come right up in your face and you think good god would you do that to somebody else’s child?”

Now call me harsh but honestly if it meant that I would get a nice big wodge of cash for doing so then yes I jolly well would! Sorry Keith.

The couple have not released any photographs of the tot, nor do they have any intention of selling any. Personally I think that this elusiveness adds to the unwanted attention as photographers race for that all important first shot. I think they would do well to take a leaf from Brad and Angelina’s book by disclosing exclusive photos to a source of their choice.

They are going to get attention whether they like it or not so they may as well ensure that as much of it as possible is on their terms and in an environment they can control.


Emma

Positive PR for Nottingham

I went to the Riverside Festival over the weekend, the first time since I moved to Nottingham just over two years ago...and was really pleased of what I saw. Well organised and good fun, it brought together hundreds of Nottinghamians on the river bank to watch the spectacular firework display.
What a shame events like this don’t get reported nationally instead of the crime levels.

Well done to the organisers .

Ruth