An interest in Pinterest

Pinterest: it’s the new social media phenomenon that has had a meteoric rise in popularity since its launch less than a year ago. For those yet to experience the addictive (at times all-consuming) realm that is Pinterest – here’s a quick 101. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard which lets you organise and share everything cool that you find on the internet. It’s genius, really. The internet is chock-full of images of amazing places, beautiful homes, recipes, art, funny-looking animals and unbelievable videos and sometimes you stumble across something that you don’t want to lose. Instead of saving the link to a document on your desktop or printing the page out and being left with piles of scrap paper – now, you can Pin it. Pinning an image off a website will transfer that image (and the link to the source website) onto one of your Pinterest Boards. These pinboards can be organised according to your interests – I have one for recipes, one for clothing, one for places I’d like to visit one day and so on and so forth. Or, you can scroll through a live feed of images that other people have Pinned, and Repin them to your own Boards - saving you the hassle of doing the web searching yourself, and often showing you things you never even knew you wanted. It’s an intriguing kettle of fish, this one – a brilliant concept. It has opened up a world of uninhibited online sharing that (in my mind) far surpasses that of Facebook or Twitter. The crucial point of difference that Pinterest has over other social media sites is that the sharing is unrestricted. Anyone can see anything that anyone else in the world has Pinned at any time – it’s quite remarkable. Most interesting is that this all-inclusive news feed provides an easy way to follow global trends (which, by the way, are currently: anything to do with s’mores and cupcakes that look like animals). But the question on every brand manager’s mind is: what does Pinterest mean for my business? Pinterest means that any brand images you have that are unique, strange, pretty or lead to something useful can spread like wildfire – it’s the quickest way for things to go viral, and your content leads back to your website, which can greatly increase page visits. It also gives small companies ‘discoverability’ – you don’t need to be a major brand to be seen, as Pinterest shows people products/brands/styles they wouldn’t usually come across by plugging key words into a search engine (or think to search for at all). Here are some tips to help make Pinterest work for your brand: - Follow, Repin and Like others: if you like their style, they make like yours and follow you back - Create boards beyond your products and brands, but related in some way: for instance, if you’re an airline, Pin amazing travel photos; if you’re a health brand, Pin healthy living and fitness messages; a pregnancy brand, Pin other tips useful to pregnant women - Add a Pinterest icon to your website - Make sure you generate visually appealing content that links back to your website or blog - Provide images that lead to a list of useful tips (e.g. how to make your own beer) - Don’t go overboard with the same old brand images: you don’t want to alienate other Pinterest users by spamming them with boring content! I believe that this one’s here to stay: you can only explore Facebook for so long before the select group of people that you are ‘friends’ with run out of things to say or show you. But there’s always something new on Pinterest – the potential for procrastination is huge, but so is the potential for your brand. It may be time to show an interest in Pinterest! Find the pr shop on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/theprshop/ Alisa Keall-Grant, on behalf of the pr shop

Land Ahoy!

Travelling to new places can be intimidating even for recreational travellers. So imagine how complex it must seem to a business that is working to export either from Australia to New Zealand or New Zealand to Australia. Working within a different culture, business practices, accounting systems and distribution channels can seem overwhelming. And trying to find the right communications company that will “get” you, the brand, and the way messaging needs to be positioned in order to engage the right audience can be a huge challenge. That’s why being a trans Tasman PR company provides so many additional benefits to those looking to make it big across the ditch. We have networks and contacts that will assist you in making waves - all handled with our no bullshit, friendly, honest approach together with our return on investment guarantee that makes us so unique and easy to work with. Cost efficiency can be had by using both offices to handle copy writing and messaging. And having access to both teams can provide a friendly face no matter what port you sail into. Be a big fish no matter what sea you swim in and reap the rewards of using an agency that doesn’t take advantage of your tourist status. Pippa Lekner on behalf of the pr shop

Fizzy Fits

We love a David vs Goliath battle here at the pr shop, especially when one of our clients (Sodastream) takes the role of David to champion the environment against the mighty global giant Coca-Cola. In case you haven’t been following the story; Sodastream has been running a global marketing campaign called ‘The Cage’ whereby giant cages full of plastic bottles and cans are put on display in public places around the world to draw attention to the environmental waste resulting from the packaged soft drinks industry. The Cage displayed at the airport in Johannesburg, South Africa angered Coca-Cola so much that they fired off a legal letter to SodaStream. The letter demanded that any used bottles with Coca-Cola branding are the property of Coca-Cola and should therefore be removed. Big mistake. Huge. SodaStream refused to back down, arguing very publicly, that if Coke does indeed own its garbage, it should be taking responsibility for it and cleaning it up, rather than letting billions of plastic bottles and cans go to landfill. The media (and the public) backed Sodastream – well who wouldn’t! Briefed by our client to communicate the Kiwi angle to media about the ‘battle of the bubbles’ we learnt a new marketing term in the process: ‘asymmetrical warfare’. According to an article in Forbes magazine, this is a marketing tactic that Sodastream deployed strongly to the detriment of Coca-Cola. We don’t care what you call it – it’s the fact that Sodastream has been declared victorious that counts. Amanda Politzer on behalf of the pr shop

Beer-drinking bride controversy becomes a global phenomenon

Far and away this week’s hottest media story has been the image of Taranaki's beer-drinking bride. The story has certainly polarized opinion in our office (our girls love their beer – Lion of course). And the fierce debate has continued unabated all this week as the news has spread to become a global sensation. Newspapers and websites as far afield as England, Australia, United States, Brazil, China and India have featured the story and one of America's biggest online news sites, msnbc.com, reported it was receiving 45,000 "clicks" an hour on the photo. But regardless of which side of the fence you fall: “it's cheap, crass and disgusting” or “it’s 2012, if a woman wants to drink beer out of a bottle while wearing a wedding dress –that’s her prerogative”, it gives us a fascinating insight into how newspapers operate. It is rare to see a newspaper editor print an article justifying his decision to run a particular story, but that’s what happened. Roy Pilott, Editor of the Taranaki Daily News published an opinion article of his own in which he commented: “I knew that running the shot on the front page would ensure Monday's edition would get people talking. This shot was a winner on several fronts – it had humour, it was not posed, it was a picture of our people, and it was unique. The selection of pictures is often made not on news value, but on the success the photographer has had in getting a memorable shot. Quite simply, in news there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to selection, but there is accountability. I am happy to stand accused of challenging readers. Journalists face a daily challenge to come up with something different, because doing news by rote is boring.” And what of the woman concerned – well Katrina Hayman seems to be all enjoying the media attention and has co-operated with a number of interviews and has even posed for photographers drinking beer with her husband in a local bar (thankfully Steinlager Pure this time round). Looking at the bigger picture (not the one of the beer drinking bride), no one outside of New Zealand (and possibly even many Kiwis themselves) had ever heard of the Taranaki Daily News before – and now it’s an international sensation. We would imagine the editor is feeling quite smug right now and we expect he will treat himself to a few beers tonight. At the end of the day it’s been a great bit of PR for him and the newspaper!

Laughter and Lunch!

Your eyes will be watering as much as your mouth at the SKYCITY Gastrocomique Lunch – a hilarious event in the 2012 NZ International Comedy Festival! Held on the 9th of May from 12 – 3pm, guests at this event will enjoy a sumptuous three-course lunch as Jeremy Corbett pits the 7 Days comedian crew against each other. Better yet, proceeds go to Make-A-Wish NZ (P1’s most heart-warming client) which grants the wishes of Kiwi kids living with life-threatening illnesses. If anyone ‘wishes’ to go, call Make-A-Wish on (09) 920 4760 or email events@makeawish.org.nz. And make sure to say ‘hi’ to Lysh and Lise, who will both be there in full force!

Welcome Lady Sadie!

The world has become a better place with the arrival of Sadie Anne Lekner, born Saturday morning and weighing in at 7lb 11oz. Sadie’s entrance into this world coincided with this piece about Pippa that ran in the Weekend Herald – famous before she even showed her face! Pippa and Peelay are, of course, totally besotted, as are Pippa’s two boys – Taite and Oscar. This gorgeous, dark-haired girl has already been nicknamed ‘Lady Sadie’ as she is commanding the attentions of the whole household! Apparently her initials (S.A.L) aren’t coincidental either, so Aunty Sal is particularly pleased. And as you can see, Mumma and Bubba are both looking equally happy and gorgeous – congratulations Pippa!

The team that plays together, stays together

Certainly true in our case! The pr shop (P1) has collectively taken up a new hobby – badminton! Monday nights are now occupied by vigorous cock-smashing and peals of laughter as we aim for that golden body-slam shot. At times it can look more like awkward dancing than hard sport, but (surprisingly), we aren’t as hopeless as we once feared....watch this space.

AN ABUNDANCE OF AMANDAS

It’s new appointments all round, with the recent addition of a new “shopper” to the Auckland office, the appointment of Amanda Politzer as Group Account Director.

Amanda is an award-winning senior consultant who has worked on high profile media, social communications and experiential campaigns for world-renowned brands.

Coming from some of the UK's top PR agencies, Amanda brings 15 years of PR and communications experience to the pr shop after emmigrating to New Zealand from England last year with her very cute baby daughter Ruby.

Amanda is not to be mixed up with our other new Amanda, the Sydney office’s new Head of PR Amanda Kuhn, who is now being referred to as AK to avoid mass confusion!

Cupcakes and Glitter

All in the name of saying a good luck see you later to Pippa, who’s having her last day in the office today while she’s still in one piece…these gorgeous, glitter-covered bundles of deliciousness were sent by P2 since they can’t be here in person for a goodbye cuddle. We miss you already, Pippa, good luck with the birth!

Baby on Board

...but not for much longer! Yesterday afternoon the pr shop celebrated the impending arrival of mini-Pippa. Many delicious pink-and-white foods were consumed (including Whoopie cakes – yum!), and bets were taken on baby’s arrival date, time, weight and name. We can’t wait to meet her!

Kitten C

You may remember the days of Bob the Cat and his regular office bottle feeds. Well, today there’s a new cat on the block (or desk, rather) – Kitten C!
Named in Sally’s (failed) attempt not to get too attached, Kitten C is an SPCA find that Sal is temporarily fostering. Kitten C has captured the hearts and devoted attentions of all the whole office with his sparkling blue eyes and penchant for dancing on keyboards.
There aren’t any complaints about his parrot-esque habit of sitting on shoulders either – aw!

Come peer in our window

This post isn’t quite as creepy as the title may suggest. What we really mean is that we’ve been getting more creative with our window displays! We’ve got a pretty wicked spot with our front window, and we love to watch people peering in at all the cool stuff we’ve got going on. This week, we’ve got a couch and a TV all set up to tempt our passers-by into a night in front of the tele with a tipple of Baileys. Cosy looking, isn’t it?

New crew for P2!

the pr shop is growing! We’re thrilled to announce an addition to the pr shop’s Australian presence (affectionately known as P2) with the appointment of Amanda Kuhn as Head of PR.

Amanda is quite the PR star, bringing with her 15 years of experience in the PR/marketing arena, working with internationally based clients across the EMEA, APAC and US markets (impressive, we know!).

Among other roles, Amanda is the former APAC marketing manager for World Wrestling Entertainment – in other words, don’t mess with her, you never know who her friends might be…