There’s been a lot of talk lately about new methods in marketing. Many agencies have re-packaged themselves as digital marketing shops, and even more have started up offering clients lots of ways to maximise ‘new’ media. It occurs to us that even though there are lots of new channels to reach our audience (largely through the internet), the methods are actually just the same as they’ve ever been.

In fact, good old-fashioned marketing skills such as generating insights, developing compelling creative, getting under the skin of the target audience, setting up measurement criteria from the outset and measuring and evolving ad infinitum are still as relevant as ever. And, as the number of channels broadens, we need to ensure that our communications are in the right place, at the right time with the right message. Sound familiar to anyone?

Amanda McDonald

We’ve recently produced this arresting image portraying the dangers of excessive drinking. The image is part of a series of ads and posters encouraging hazardous drinkers to seek help. Beautiful work by Nick, Jeremy and Pete.

To celebrate getting onto the Learning and Skills Council marketing roster the team received this beautiful display of fruit complete with strawberries coated in chocolate. Yum

I’m Andrew and I’m the new kid at Yes – which is nice. Just thought I would pen a few words of introduction – Better the devil you know!

People keep calling me an Online PR specialist which is interesting as I rather like to think of myself as a regular PR man who has simply embraced the way the internet can put some lovely new tools in my box. Lots of my peers seem to put themselves on a pedestal with credentials as ‘Online PR Guru’ and implying huge barriers to entering the hallowed digital portals.

Good news for you, O’ prospective or existing valuable client, is the simple reality that we can explain Online PR to you in about 30 mins. Give you a working grasp in a couple of hours and turn you into a strategic genius in a couple of weeks. Bad news is that once you have this basic grasp you need to work very hard, every day, to keep up to date. That of course is where we come in – which is nice too.

A day to learn a lifetime to master – and none of us has had a lifetime to master it all yet as it only kicked off a few years ago and it keeps bloomin’ changing.

So my proposition to you is simple. Treat online activity like a Formula 1 car. No single thing you do will tip the balance in your favour, but pay it lots of attention (or better still pay a pittance us to pay it lots of attention) and, with fine tuning of a few different aspects of your online presence, mixed with a sensible amount of tried and tested ‘old school’ tricks (like picking up the phone to the odd journo) we can help to move you to the front of the race.

My time is now yours, so if you’d like to learn something new give us a buzz, send me your URL, buy me lunch and I’ll sing like a canary.

Cheers

Andrew
andrew.rastall@yesgency.co.uk

There’s much pessimism in the agency world about 2009 and the most common school of thought is that only the smart will survive. At Yes Agency, we’ve bolstered our offering with a new smart cookie in the form of Online PR Consultant Andrew Rastall.

Online PR nicely tops off our existing offering of direct marketing, advertising, literature, online communications and strategic marketing, ensuring that we can maximise the impact of our clients’ marketing activities in even more areas.

Plus, Andrew’s area of specialism – Online PR - dovetails perfectly into Yes Agency’s philosophy of measurable marketing. That’s not to say that he can’t also cover off the traditional stuff – Andrew has been a PR Account Director for over 12 years in a variety of the country’s leading PR agencies, and had a fantastic track record in delivering creative and effective PR campaigns for a range of clients from leisure retailers through to leading brands.

We’re looking forward to adding even more value to our offering using Andrew’s skills over the coming months.

David Patrick

At Yes Agency, we have been observing for a while the impact of peer to peer relationships on everything from media consumption through to making a purchase. That’s why we developed the Community Consult tool to engage with sub-groups within communities to create brand advocates and really harness the power of peer to peer.

Nowhere is peer to peer more prevalent than within online communities. Who visits a holiday destination nowadays without seeking the opinion of at least 10 vociferous online reviewers that they’ve never met before? In fact, who even spends £5 on a film without consulting their peers online first?

With peer to peer recommendations and reviews influencing purchases of £5 to £5,000+ then only the most courageous brands will be leaving this aspect of their marketing to chance. Whilst you clearly can’t influence what people have to say about your product or service (apart from ensuring consistently high quality of course), an Online PR strategy should include a high level of peer review management.

Very few marketeers have the time (even if they have the knowledge) to monitor this, never mind give people additional opportunities to trial their product, supporting online advocates and managing the online filtering of relevant promotional material. That’s why, the best option is to employ someone to take this pressure off your hands. Thus, the rise of the Online PR consultant.

Watch this space for more information on Yes Agency’s new Online PR Consultant, Andrew Rastall....

Amanda McDonald

Few can have failed to observe the seismic changes in our industry over the last few years. And, change always seems to go hand in hand with a whole new set of jargon.

With a proliferation of agencies offering ‘Online PR’, ‘Digital PR’, ‘Web Optimised Copywriting’ and ‘Advanced Search’ you could be forgiven for thinking that you need to get a digital agency on board just to translate the lingo!

However, all of these ‘new’ disciplines are significantly more robust when built on solid foundations. Who better therefore to dovetail your Online PR strategy into your marketing strategy than your existing agency?

After all, PR has always been about intelligent writing, good relationships and understanding the media. Strangely, Online PR is about intelligent writing, good relationships and understanding the media. It’s just that the writing needs to not only encompass the needs and desires of the target audience, but must also be optimized so that it is picked up by as many searches as possible.

Good relationships are still key – with a whole new set of online journalists, bloggers and twitterers to get to know. Plus, relationships with prospects and customers are easily managed via online communities. And as for understanding the media, there are a proliferation of online media players to get under the skin of, and any PR man worth his salt will have been on the case for the last five years. And, what’s great about Online PR is its measurability.

So, who better to help to monitor and evolve your PR programme than your old friends – the agency team? So, in my view, it’s simply a case of better the devil you know.

Amanda McDonald

The fact is, that as is the case with all ‘new’ disciplines, opinions vary.

At Yes Agency, we treat Online PR as a natural extension of our existing marketing skills – understanding the target audience, creating compelling stories and building lasting relationships with customers. In fact, Online PR simply takes tried and tested principles and executes them in the context of the new tools that the internet offers.

Take any established PR tool and you can probably extend its use online. Of course, there are new tactics that are specific to online but even they tend to have a basis in activity you will be familiar with. You’re probably already aware of the power and importance of Peer Review – a very powerful online tool, vital if you sell off the page. And everyone knows about Search Engine Optimised copy. But do they really have time to concentrate on keeping their content fresh, and accommodating search trends on a regular basis? I suspect not.

Even agencies sometimes struggle to give their own websites the attention they deserve and need. Yes – even us! And sometimes companies develop the most beautiful showcase for their products ever, but no-one gets to see its beauty because they’ve neglected to promote it. And finally, linking strategies, if properly developed, links can really increase the relevance of what you have to say.

All in all, Online PR is neither new, nor rocket science. It is, like all marketing disciplines, a blend of know-how, rigour and a bit of creative sparkle. However, it can be a golden opportunity to boost the impact of your marketing, and clearly, needs to be given the time and resource to create results.

Amanda McDonald