Digital Death



Even when 'dead' Kim manages to pout



One of the areas of PR that I would like to go into when I graduate is the non-profit and charity sectors (I'm also really interested in consumer and internal communications too, I just can't decide).



There are many inspiring campaigns in the non-profit/charity sectors, some of which are designed to shock/scare audiences into supporting a particular cause or organisation. Evoking emotions via a campaign, especially shock, is an area that I would like to explore further and a dissertation topic that I am swaying towards too.

Anyway, earlier today I was researching campaigns when I came across Digital Death, by Keep a Child Alive - an organisation that provides treatment and care to HIV/AIDS affected children and families in Africa and India. 



The campaign includes various celebrities, such as the Kardashians, Lenny Kravitz, Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys and Usher all providing a 'Last Tweet and Testament', vowing to give up their Twitter and Facebook accounts, until enough money is raised to buy their digital lives back. 

As social media plays such an important role in many people's lives today, and provides an accessible communication platform to many otherwise 'untouchable' celebrities, I thought this was a really unique and clever idea. People had no other choice but to donate, in order to find out what their favourite celebs were doing again and to regain a sense of connection with them.

Very convincing...

It's a slightly older campaign, which ran in 2010, and  was a little slow to take off. Maybe this was due to the high donation rate, or the unconvincing poses and pouting of the 'dead' celebs.  However, I do think that the overall concept is an inspiring idea, and one, if it was done a little more convincingly may have had an even bigger impact and shocked plenty more people.

I can imagine fans of the celebrities would have hated to see their lifeless idols in coffins, and so would have been compelled to donate, but if you're going to fake death, then at least try and get into the spirit of things (excuse the pun).

On the positive though, the idea of buying back life highlights the how death is often so easily avoidable; if we spend less on indulging ourselves and more on helping others who need it. I often consider social media as an important part of daily life, but Digital Death emphasises the much more vital things, which the less-fortunate have little, or no, access to. 

Mug Shots of Meth Users

There's nothing like a good hard-hitting, shocking campaign to spread a message and create awareness. 

I've just spotted this, by Rehabs.com, which shows a series of mugshots documenting the rapid and gruesome decline of methamphetamine users in America. It needs no clever photoshop editing, re-touching or catchy slogan to make an impact as it shows the grim and disturbing physical-transformation caused by the drug. 

Meth is twice as addictive as heroin. It's a vile, life-destroying drug and these photographs are proof that it only leads to a miserable existence. Many of the images were only taken a couple of years apart but the effects are obvious, highlighting not only the facial deterioration, but the criminal lifestyles that the drug often forces its users into.

It's scary how quickly these people's lives, and looks, have unravelled. The scarred faces show the results of nasty hallucinations, where users pick and scratch uncontrollably at their faces after believing bugs have crawled under their skin.

I really think that shock tactics like these are often the only way to communicate the 'say no to drugs' message, which can easily be ignored, or loose impact as it is repeated so much to young people today.

Some of these users are the same age or younger than me, so it's pretty disturbing to see what meth has done to them. If the campaign even stops one person from ruining their life, then in my eyes it's a success. I wonder why they have turned to meth and whether seeing a video like this would have made them think twice. I'd like to think it would have.

Fitness Focus Magazine

Hi everyone!

Sorry I haven’t blogged in a little while, I’ve been ridiculously busy with university and my new job. I’m taking a quick coffee break from studying at the moment now, so I just thought I’d quickly update you all on what I’ve been up to.

In between graduating, endless hand-ins and my birthday, I’ve landed a new job as Senior Marketing Consultant at Fitness Focus magazine. I can finally say I’m doing a job that I enjoy and that I no longer have to suffer the tedium of telesales!

It’s definitely a job where I work with, and not for, everybody in the office and I’m able to put all my skills to good use. I do a bit of everything, but mostly I’m the person responsible for getting health and fitness instructors and clubs into the magazine. I’m itching to get involved with some of the design and editorial work too.

I’m also solely responsible for the publication’s social media, which I love. The magazine’s website is currently in production, but I’ve just set up a Twitter account to increase the awareness and reputation of Fitness Focus. I’m making the point of individually thanking each new follower and making sure I reply to every single tweet we get. It has been quite time-consuming but I do think that it’s really going to help in building relationships with stakeholders. I’m going to post plenty of photos too, document the making of the magazine and also set up a Facebook page very soon.

The magazine is officially launching in the New Year, and I’ve been given the task of creating the launch party, so this is an excellent opportunity to put what I’ve learnt about PR planning in practise. I’ve never put together an event before, so I’m quite nervous about it, but also really eager to show the office what I can do. If it goes well, which I will make sure it will, there will be lots more opportunities like this, which I’m hoping will boost my PR profile and credibility.

I’m excited to see what opportunities this job may bring, and want to contribute to the magazine’s success as much as I possibly can. Everything is going well at the moment, and even though I’m up to my eyes in coursework, I’m really enjoying life.

Oh, and make sure you follow Fitness Focus on Twitter!

Thanks x 

Foodscapes

One of the pieces of work that I had to do for uni this week was to research some potential dissertation topics. I still haven’t made my mind up on which I'm going to chose yet, but I did have a look at public relations in the Food and Drink sector as a possibility.

This idea was spurred on not only by my love of all things edible, but by the giant coffee cup that greeted me outside of Canary Wharf Tube station the other morning. It made me think about how food seemingly has few creative limits and can actually be a very effective and inspiring PR tool.

When I was researching, there were several campaigns that really stood out to me, such as Unity’s ‘Pizza Portrait of Political Britain', Resident Evil 6’s ‘Human Butcher’s Shop’ and the six-foot Christmas pudding created by Heston Blumenthal.

I also came across some amazing ‘foodscapes’ created by Carl Warner. I think these would be an excellent way to promote healthy eating, especially to kids, as they manage to make broccoli and carrots exciting! They really make fun food and interesting, and perhaps if the 5-year-old me had seen them, I wouldn't have such a strange phobia of cucumber today.

Images like this act as an example of how food can be a talking point, and so a brilliant tool to use in PR stunts and campaigns. Of course it wasn't just the vivid colours of chili boats and dragon fruit fish that grabbed my attention, there were some sweet pictures too...

...well, we all deserve a treat now and then don’t we?!

The PR Week Awards 2012

So, this week has been pretty amazing to say the least.

On Thursday, I won a 24-hour Twitter competition run by Handle PR to attend the PR Week Awards 2012 as their guest. I was so excited because this was the first time a grad had ever been invited to the ceremony and it was a one-time opportunity that would help get my foot in the PR door, which is never easy.

In the run-up to the big night, Handle's Kelly and Jessica (who have been so supportive) Blogged and Tweeted about me. I gained over twenty new followers in the days that followed including some really inspirational companies and PR pros. They'd also lined up practitioners from some of the most influential companies to come and say hello too!

On the night I was pretty nervous. I'd never really networked before and was worried that I'd say the wrong thing or make a total idiot out of myself. Kelly and Jessica were so lovely though and introduced me to loads of their PR friends and contacts and, after a couple glasses of free champers, my nerves soon disappeared. Over the three-course meal, I got chatting to the people on our table, one of which was the campaigns manager for Shelter. I'm particularly interested in developing a career in charity/non-profit PR when I graduate so this was ideal.

Hosted by Graham Norton, the ceremony itself lasted about two hours and introduced me to many diverse, creative and inspiring campaigns. Afterwards, I carried on swapping details, shaking hands and kissing cheeks (which seems to be the way to greet people in the world of PR) with some of the industry's finest before being whisked off in a taxi at midnight.

The whole evening was a fantastic experience, and resulted in potential internships and even more Twitter followers. I was able to get some brilliant advice and make some excellent contacts but, most importantly, it's meant that the organisations I'd love to work for one day now know who I am. It was such a confidence boost to know that people wanted to speak to me and could recognise my ambition and passion when it can often seem impossible to get noticed these days.

I suppose the whole evening is an example of just how important social media is in this industry because it can offer some unmissable opportunities if you follow the right people. It  emphasised the crucial importance of networking and that who you know is just as, if not more, important than what you know.

I've been so lucky this week and cannot thank Kelly, Jessica or Handle enough for all they've done. Thanks also to my life-saving friend Laura, who posted me up a selection of her dresses at the very last minute...I owe you one! x

Me and Jessica

The Invisible Ad

Lynx (aka Axe) have got to be one of, if not the, best companies around for amazing advertising and PR campaigns. Until today, my favourite was their campaign for Lynx Chocolate which featured a life-size edible chocolate man; partly because it was creative genius, but mostly because it made me want chocolate each time I watched it. 

But now I think I've found something even better...The World's First Invisible Ad, used to promote Lynx's Anarchy range.  

Created by Soap Creative (who are also responsible for the World's Biggest PAC-MAN), the campaign installed hacked LCD screens into an ordinary-looking terrace house in Sydney. The polarised lenses in the glasses handed out to passers-by unlocked raunchy scenes, which were otherwise invisible to the naked eye.

And if that's not enough? Well, the deodorant even has it's own desert island...