Pinterest is fast becoming a social media phenomenon with an increasing number of brands using it to engage with consumers online. So what is it?

Have you ever come across truly stunning images of places you’d like to visit, beautiful living spaces you’d like to take inspiration from or food recipes you’d like to try? Did you then forget what they were and where you found them because you have no central place to keep them all? Well, now you do.

It’s the simplest ideas that have the biggest impact and Pinterest is no exception. With over 1.4 million registered users using the site for an average of 15 minutes a day, in less than two years the online virtual pin board has burst into the social networking space and become one of the fastest growing social sites.

Launched in March 2010, Pinterest provides users with a beautiful platform for personal expression, a chance to escape and craft a visually perfect world of everything you believe in, aspire to be and desire in life.

The picture-sharing social networking site allows users to create their own individual online profile. Users can then ‘pin’ various images or videos of their ‘interests’ and products they love onto their profile’s virtual, categorised pin boards, which are then shared with the rest of the Pinterest community. For instance, the pin boards on my profile consist of home décor, places to visit, food and drink, modes of transport, film, books and apparel.

Just like Twitter, you can follow users who share your interests to see their latest pins as well as see what all other users are pinning, all of which are categorised so you can easily browse what you’re looking for. You can then like and repin posts onto your own pin boards. Likewise, users can do the same with your pins, allowing you to quickly and easily share your posts.

Pinterest allows you to connect your profile with Facebook and Twitter, and the iPhone app also means you can pin on the go!

Although there is something for everyone on the site, 58 per cent of users are female, aged between 25 and 44 so it’s no surprise that pins are dominated by home décor, crafts, fashion and food.

But it’s not just individuals that are using it. Each image or video pinned links back to its original source online and in January alone, Pinterest generated more referral traffic to websites than YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn combined! Currently, over 100 brands are proactively using the social networking site to promote their products and services across a wide variety of sectors such as GAP, Whole Foods Market and Unicef, and this is set to increase at a rapid speed.

So how can brands be utilising Pinterest to engage with communities online?

Some great tips can be found on this blog but here’s a few:

• Connect your account with Facebook and Twitter to help you gain followers. Social media icons will be added to your Pinterest profile.
• Add your website URL and a description about your brand.
• Tag other Pinterest users in your pin using the @username in the description box to build your network of followers.
• Comment on and ‘like’ other people’s pin to engage with users.
• In the same way as Facebook and Twitter, don’t over-promote yourself. Remember you need to be engaging with your online audience.
• Create themed or seasonal boards that relate to your brand.
• Track who’s pinning your stuff and use this to shape your content strategy.
• Above all, make your boards visually interesting so your brand is personally appealing.

For individuals, you now have somewhere to keep all the inspirational things you see – but don’t forget its good practice to credit the brand or source of the images and videos.

I won’t lie, it’s easy to get carried away and hours can pass whilst you procrastinate looking at things you might never be able to afford, do or be. But, we can dream. I confess, I am a Pinterest addict.

Boxfresh, the popular men’s street wear brand is sponsoring the ‘Best New Band’ category at this year’s NME Awards, and tasked Reko.TV with producing a short film that would engage with music fans attending the NME Awards Tour gigs during February 2012.

The purpose of the video is to encourage gig-goers to enter the Ultimate NME competition on the Boxfresh Facebook Page to win four tickets to the NME Awards ceremony.

The tour takes in twelve venues across the UK and provides the warm up to the iconic NME Awards which are taking place on 29 February at the legendary O2 Academy Brixton. As a result, Reko.TV’s video will be watched by thousands, as music fans pour into venues across the UK for the sell-out tour.

Mike Buonaiuto, Head of Production at Reko.TV, commented: “To have been approached by one of the most iconic men’s fashion brands in the UK, and consequently our involvement with such a huge player in the music industry was an incredibly exciting experience.

“More and more brands are seeking to engage with their fans via social media platforms nowadays and this was the main aim of the video. The challenge was to create a video that would generate a buzz and get music fans interacting via social media throughout the UK-wide tour.”

While the hype of social media pervades marketing practitioners, the use of social media for publicity is growing rapidly, and becoming a major part of both journalist and practitioners PR activities.

According to the survey, in 2010 79% of journalists have a Facebook profile, 46% have a LinkedIn profile, and 58% have a Twitter profile. Only 11% have no profiles. Twitter realized the most dramatic increase from just 22% in 2009.

In addition, 43% of PR practitioners use social networks to pitch media, with 76% using Twitter and 49% using Facebook. One of the key reasons practitioners use social media? Search engine results! Often posts to social media channels rank higher than even company websites for key search terms. And as noted above, journalists use search engines 93% of the time for research.

A discussion of PR and social media would be incomplete without acknowledging the growing importance of blogs. Per above, 59% of traditional (print) journalists write blogs. In addition, 45% of journalists have quoted a blog in an article, and journalists use both general blogs (24%) and company blogs (23%) for research. On the practitioner side, 66% are targeting bloggers more than before.

So what would marketing be without PR? Hard to think of public relations without social media nowadays…

Times have changed…the media has changed….Not every executive in a company is a natural communicator and nobody is so senior that they can pass on having proper training to handle media interaction. Dealing effectively with journalists isn’t solely about managing a media crisis but maximising a media opportunity.

Already this year, I have attended and contributed to two media training sessions and have another two to complete before the end of February. Out of these sessions comes great constructive feedback, which can be reinforced ahead of any media opportunity, positive or negative.

2012 promises to be a busy year for a number of our clients, be it the launch of new products or rapid company growth, and as part of this we need to be prepared to handle any media interest that come our way.

Benjamin Franklin once said: “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.” I would add to that, media training is key to understanding key messages, audience demographics and tone of voice, the only way to get these three elements working together is by being prepared!

Dove launched its valentine’s tweet campaign yesterday encouraging everyone to “spread the love”

An interactive widescreen has been set up in London Victoria Station where a different question will appear each day, until 19^th February. Yesterday’s question read ‘Who is the most beautiful women in your life? Why?’

The whole idea behind the campaign is to engage commuters into responding with positive messages about women and beauty. Responses can be sent via Twitter (#Dove) and SMS and are then being streamed, in real time, up on the widescreen for everyone passing by to see.

My thoughts are that this could give a whole new meaning to radio ‘shout outs’ this Valentine’s Day. Why not get your response up there, take a picture and send it to your valentine?

The campaign will be running until 19^th February leaving plenty of time to ‘spread the love’.

1. We don’t mail press releases. I remember mass-mailing by post every single press release to the same media list of editors, wasting postage in the hopes of getting a few clippings. And this was back in 1997! And I know of agencies (not mine) that were still using that practice as late as 2003.

2. PR is affordable. Sure you still have to pay a PR staff member, but without the cost of printing and postage, and the heavy use of email and social media, your costs are a lot lower than they used to be.

3. PR is instantaneous. You can alert journalists right now and get coverage online immediately. You don’t even have to wait for a newspaper to go to print.

4. PR is casual. There used to be this huge separation between journalists and public relations professionals. Now we interact, follow one another on Twitter, and are able to help one another in mutually beneficial ways. Many even respect us for our communications skills.

5. PR is flexible. The old rules are out, but the new rules are still in the making. Or rather, there are no rules. You can use social media, email or the phone to reach a journalist. It’s up to you. But pay attention to how the journalist wants to be contacted.

6. Press Releases are evolving. I need to write a post about how awesome the new interface on PRWeb is, but I’m happy to see the whole social media release thing being integrated into what we’re already doing. You can add a photo or video to your release too. Rich media adds value to what you can ‘sell’ in to the journalist.

7. Bloggers are part of PR. 10 years ago no one knew what a blogger was. Now they get media status at conferences (and the free pass that comes with it). They’re today’s reporters, and they don’t come with the attitude (yet) that so many busy journalists have toward PR pros.

8. There’s more than 1 way to skin a PR cat. A good PR strategy involves getting a release on a distribution site, reaching out to traditional media and connecting with bloggers. It’s also key to share the release through social media. All these add up to smart PR.

9. The space is getting bigger. Everyone moved away from PR to become social media experts. Boy, I’m glad I didn’t, because now people need companies that understand press releases and media relations.

10. Tools make PR easier. Tracking web traffic, now a key component of PR, is easy with sites like Google Alerts. You can measure your results exactly. And PRWeb does a fantastic job of offering analytics on releases.

The friendly office banter has started, every Monday from now until mid March, I expect to have a similar conversation with a certain few rugby fans at Remarkable. Wales are now in the ascendancy, after a great World Cup, but despite my confidence in my national team I am sure there are going to be times when I have to paint a smile on and congratulate my colleagues on their team’s victory! Through gritted teeth of course!

Remarkable attracts talent from across the UK and indeed the World (Australia Day). It is sporting events, such as the Six Nations that tend to make the geographical differences across the team all the more obvious.  I might be on my own supporting the Welsh but at the moment I’m the most vocal.

How can you use social media as part of a planning proposal?

On the one hand, the openness and transparency offered by direct and public interaction can be empowering, yet a desire to use social media to galvanise your supporters runs the risk of being hijacked by opponents if not handled well.

So, maybe we shouldn’t be trying to use social media as part of a public consultation? If we don’t get involved in online conversations, maybe they’re not happening?

The inconvenient truth is that conversations will almost certainly be going on whether you like it or not. As such you have a simple choice; get involved, join the conversation and try to ensure a well informed and balanced debate, or bury your head in the sand and let the naysayers, and those with the loudest voices, carry on unmarked.

Action groups have long used the power of social media to influence planning decisions and gather support. Why shouldn’t developers?

At the very least social media can be a powerful listening tool, helping to gauge local sentiment and in identifying the key players. But its real power is in spreading a message and in influencing discussions and in encouraging engagement. As such, you should be asking supporters and third party advocates to get involved in online conversations, to correct misinformation and to provide accurate details about what’s being proposed.

This isn’t about spinning the truth; it’s about trying to ensure a well informed, balanced debate. You might even be able to turn some of those critics into advocates.

To avoid falling into any social media pitfalls, we’ve come up with these golden rules.

The 7 golden rules

1. Listen and find out what’s being said – don’t just rush in.
2. Be open and honest about who you are – hiding your identity will blow up in your face.
3. Be proactive in discussions and responsive to questions.
4. Be polite and personable, getting the tone of voice is vital.
5. Don’t think you can do all the heavy lifting yourself – encourage supporters to use social media to spread the word. They’ll be your best advocates.
6. Make your own content social media friendly and easily shareable.
7. Don’t encourage arguments – be factual and correct untruths but don’t rise to the trolls or ranters.

At Remarkable we’re working with a number of clients who are keen to learn about how social media can play a part in their community engagement programmes. Social media can’t replace the traditional means of engagement (and I’m not saying that every development should have its own Facebook page), but it is another tool in our armoury to help ensure a well informed, balanced debate.

[Image by metaroll via Flickr]

It’s estimated more than a hundred million people tuned in on Sunday to watch what is known in America as ‘the greatest show on earth’ – the Super Bowl.An American sporting obsession, the annual event sees the country stop in its tracks and gather together round TV screens, creating a sight only experienced in the UK last year when the nation collectively stopped to watch the Royal Wedding.

With only one other annual sporting event in the World viewed by more people than the Super Bowl – the Champions League Final – it’s no surprise companies are willing to pay the huge fee – an estimated $3 million – for a 30 second advert during the match.

As eagerly anticipated as the football action itself, Super Bowl commercials offer advertisers seconds to grab the American public’s attention. Companies subsequently invest millions to produce truly memorable ads.

This Super Bowl, companies including H&M spent its advertising budget securing David Beckham to model his new range of underwear for the retailer, while Honda employed film star, Matthew Broderick, to feature in its own TV advert adaptation of the hit movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Capitalising on social media, Coca Cola aired a series of commercials during the Super Bowl which featured computer-generated polar bears watching the game, encouraging American viewers to follow the characters during the match on Twitter.

While in 2011 adverts with animals out performed those starring celebrities during the Bowl, it is too early to tell yet, as to whether Coca Cola’s tweeting polar bears out performed David Beckham in his pants.

The stats however will soon be out and my money’s on Becks!

I believe there are four key areas you should probe: market knowledge, creativity, strategic approach and the people who will really be on your team.

That means you need to do some homework, look around at the kinds of agencies that might be appropriate and make a shortlist of the most likely candidates. Then you need to ask them lots of  questions. I recommend the following as a minimum:

1. What’s the agency’s experience and expertise? Does it match what you need?

2. Does the agency understand your business’ current situation and future direction?

3. Does the agency team take a creative and intelligent approach? Do you feel they’d give you honest advice?

4. Are its people effective communicators? Are client campaigns efficient, coordinated and targeted?

5. Does the agency have excellent understanding of both traditional PR and also digital PR?

6. Can the agency plan strategically and act tactically? Does it integrate with other marketing disciplines?

7. What’s the agency’s track record? How long do clients and staff stay with the company?

8. Does it have a reputation for integrity and professionalism? Is it a member of the PRCA or the CIPR ?

9. Will its senior people be available to offer value-add consultancy?

10. Would you like to work with them?

I suggest you ask the last question first and perhaps save yourself a lot of time if the answer is ‘no’!