One of the best Social Media gadgets I've ever come across....

Every now and then, you come across something that's so simple yet so effective that you just have to share it. So here it is. I would really encourage you to have a go for yourselves as this is one of those simple-to-use internet gadgets that could, if put into the right hands, do a fantastic job of bringing consumers and brands together.

http://www.tackfilm.se/

Just upload your photo and follow the instructions.

I challenge you to tell me I'm wrong. It's every-so-slightly slow but go on, I promise you you won't be disappointed.

Milan to Marlow - the movie

It's been a while since my last post - I've been waiting for the arrival of the promised short internet viral films from Volvo's recent Marlow to Milan (and back!) eco-driving challenge.

Everybody who tried to make the 810 mile journey did so, much to their surprise I think. Only one car didn't make it, but they gunned it all the way back and still got as far as Calais before needing to top up.

And as part of the event, we put two well-known comedians - Dom Joly (of Trigger Happy TV fame) and Rufus Hound (from Argumental on Dave TV) into a car to see what they'd get up to on such a long journey. Predictably, it wasn't your usual road trip and it gave us enough content to make three films - enjoy!

Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spPGgc68d1c

Part One - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TladBhIScB4

Part Two - http://www.youtube.com/user/volvocarsuk#p/a/u/0/6Qej4juhFU0

Volvo S40 DRIVe awarded What Car? Green Car of the Year

In my recent blog post http://torquetalking.blogspot.com/2009/06/volvo-car-uk-takes-first-social-media.html I eluded to some big news for the Volvo brand happening last night. Well, those avid web watchers will now know that last night, at an event hosted by the What Car? editorial team and The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, the Volvo S40 DRIVe was awarded their coverted Green Car of the Year title.

Sorry not to have brought you the news at 20:00 last night as promised but I was out celebrating.

But I'm also really pleased that we've also taken our first steps into the Social Media world in the process. When such a fantastic opportunity presents itself, you make the most of it. So we've got both a traditional PR campaign and Social Media campaign now running and in a few days, we'll compare and contrast the results to see how the coverage has come in.

They're under starters orders, and they're off......

Volvo Car UK takes first Social Media steps

The world is changing at Volvo. Ask the 'man in the street' what comes to mind when he thinks about Volvo and, like any brand, you'll get a diversity of answers. However, the responses for Volvo are changing. Fewer and fewer respondents would talk about large estate cars and 'a car my Dad had'. More and more, the Volvo brand is being associated with cutting-edge design, an environmental conscience and innovative safety. Don't just take the PR man's word for it, I've got the proof if needed!

And along with this change in perception comes an opportunity to reach out to a changing audience. Previously on my blog, you'll have read how Volvo has employed the services of Mindshare to assist us with the task of Social Media and Digital PR

http://torquetalking.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-media-news.html

And that decision caused a bit of a stir –

http://torquetalking.blogspot.com/2009/05/right-to-reply-media-agencies-muscle-in.html

Well, now the dust has settled, we are ready to embark on the journey. Like any business that takes the first steps into this new world, the advances need to be small and measured in the first instance to prove you're doing the right thing and taking others with you. After all, setting off in the wrong direction could spell disaster, and you'd spend time and money just getting back to where you started.

But where to start? The opportunity to make a bit of a splash in this new world seems like a good starting point, as does the ability, with this splash, to monitor the reaction and compare and contrast the reaction to that of the traditional media world that we're all familiar with.

So, keep a look out at 20:00 next Monday 8 June 2009 for an announcement that, I believe, reinforces the reasons why the perceptions of Volvo are changing. Stay tuned.

What's in a name?

If you go back a few years, before the internet and social media had taken off, the world received all of its news-based information from journalists. And everybody interested in the news realised this – easy.

Wind the clock forwards to today and audiences have an ever-growing number of avenues to receive and digest news. The traditional routes of television, radio, newspapers and magazines still exist (although most of their audiences are in decline) but now we have to contend with internet resources like blogs, forums, boards, wikis, social media sites like Facebook and alike.

And to the 'man in the street', we need to accept that it can be confusing. What's the difference between a blog and a forum, and what should they read for what type of news? Who's important and who's not – how can they tell?

In my view, we can make it simple. If we strip out all of the titles – journalist, blogger, board reader, editor etc – and just use the word 'influencer', I believe it should make it easier. After all, all of these commentators, irrespective of the medium they are using, are creating influence in their audience. Clearly some will create more influence than others, but that's been the case.

Social Media wrestles with the traditional world

Have spent a couple of valuable days in meetings with fellow PR professionals and I'm struck by one thing - the different pace at which the power of Social Media is being recognised around the world.

In these meetings, I was eulogising about the benefits that it can bring, about the audiences that it can open you up to, about the cost effectiveness of most of it and, above all from a PR perspective, the measurability that it can add to a PR strategy. But we can't ignore the fact that there are some excellent PR professionals out there who haven't understood the power that Social Media can harness yet, and therefore see it as a possible threat or drain on already depleted resources.

With challenges like how the relationship between bloggers and journalists might work, and how they are going to find the time to respond to the deluge of customer enquires it will surely bring, it's often easiest to just think it's too hard, and not do anything at all.

But I believe that the truth is very different. I wholeheartedly believe that both Social Media and traditional media can happily co-exist together if dealt with delicately. And it doesn't need to take huge amounts of time. In fact, I believe that if the online world feeds the traditional world with stories, it could actually take less time and cost less money.

So, what to do? Do you push ahead and potentially get everybody's backs up or do nothing because of their lack of understanding? I think that the truth stands somewhere in the middle.

As Social Media professionals, we shouldn't just assume that because audiences have an appetite for this that companies are yet convinced. We have to ensure that we are selling the benefits as well as the ideas. Just because we can do it isn't good enough. We need to convince the sceptics of the tangible benefits it will bring the business. This will often involve a small pilot or locally-produced proof of concept rather than a large campaign. And doing what PR has always done best - a softly-softly approach rather than a bull in a china shop.

The right to reply - Media agencies muscle in

I've been fascinated reading the discussion thread following the interview I gave PR Week last week about the future of PR agencies and SEO. Read the original interview here:

http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/article/903849/Media-agencies-muscle/?DCMP=EMC-DailyNews

For starters, and for the record, I don't think that the days of the PR agency are numbered. As a matter of fact, as a business, we employ a retained PR agency and use a number of other agencies on an adhoc basis. However, I do believe that marketing agencies have probably done a better job of adapting to today's competitive environment than many, but not all, PR agencies have.

When Volvo decided to move into this area, it did so with eyes open and on the back of my previous experience as the UK motor industry's first and only New Media PR Manager for BMW and MINI. And this is not about letting the chosen agency set sail with your brand and steering in whichever direction they see fit. It's about partnering with an agency who really understand the Volvo brand, its customers as well as the online audiences and influencers. It's also about partnering with the right agency who can deliver on the brief.

And I do believe, also for the record, that social media PR can play a key part in a SEO strategy. Yes, digital PR has a role to play in influencing online audiences and shaping brands as it has always done in the traditional world but ultimately, all online PR activity should be geared towards driving customers to our own website. And, at the end of the day, selling cars – after all, that's what we're all here to do. The days of long lunches and the vast MP-style expense budgets in the PR industry went a long time ago and now, more than ever, PRs need to justify what they are doing and why they are doing it.

So, if SEO and driving consumers to your website is a large part of the goal, but you also need to execute a social media strategy, what do you do? Employ a PR agency and hope they'll deliver on the SEO brief too? Not us, we've decided to employ an experienced SEO agency who, for the record too, also have a great deal of experience in creating and managing social media PR strategies alongside the in-house team to make sure the off-line and on-line activities complement one another.

This decision may have caused debate, but debate is good. We live in a world of flux where very few decisions are simple anymore and there are more and more grey areas opening up. This one, in particular, highlights the possible gap between a Marketing and PR function, and we need to ensure that nothing falls between the slats. That's why we believe that a joined up approach, working in close partnership with all stakeholders to ensure that everybody delivers exactly to the brief, is the right way to proceed. You make your own choice as to whether you think it's the right thing to do.

But does this mark the end of the PR agency as we know it. No, just companies breaking down the barriers that have traditionally existed to make the most of the resources that they have available to them.

Social media, and car dealers

Spent the day at Kings Volvo in Southampton talking to their Marketing Manager. Very interesting that car dealerships are now waking up to the possibilities presented by being able to monitor what's being said by their customers online. In essence, they wouldn't ignore a customer complaining in their showroom so why would they ignore customers complaining about them online.

After all, a customer in a dealership will be heard by a few passers by. A customer who complains on a forum or board can be seen by the whole world!! That soon makes most open their eyes.

But with a few free-to-use tools set up, they'll start to understand their place in the online landscape and start communicating with their customers in a language that their customers want to use - every one's a winner.