Tin Man to launch Instagram app Takumi to connect brands with ‘influencers’

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Tin Man has been chosen to launch Takumi, a free app which aims to “revolutionise the way brands engage with influencers on Instagram”, following a three-way pitch.

Takumi will connect Instagram “influencers” (people with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers) with the brands that they, and their followers, love.

Takumi’s influencers will be able to choose which campaigns they pursue based on their interests and those of their followers, and will be paid a fee in proportion to their reach.

Tin Man will handle the October launch of the app to both the Instagram influencer community as well as to brands.

The initial campaign will run for four months and, as Takumi launches across other social networks, there is scope to work on future projects.

Mats Stigzelius, co-founder of Takumi, said: “We were immediately impressed with Tin Man’s approach to dissecting a brief and devising a strategic yet creative campaign to take us to market. There are big plans for the roll out of the Takumi brand and we want Tin Man on the journey with us.”

Mandy Sharp (pictured), founder of Tin Man, said: “Over the past few years, we’ve seen an explosion of the vlogger community and the huge power they hold with consumers.

“The influence of Instagramers is the newest chapter in this narrative and Takumi is in a position to be a part of this phenomenon. It’s an exciting proposition and we’re keen to build on our current experience of influencer campaigns to really make this fly for Takumi.”

AMEC Measurement Month – Roundtable at Duck&Waffle

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 Not a bad way to start the morning, eh?

Gorkana held its first Measurement Roundtable yesterday morning at the Duck & Waffle, focused on best practice measurement in the agency world.

Over the past decade, measurement has increasingly become an integral component of successful PR. We have felt this acutely, as our measurement programmes have grown by leaps and bounds over the past 10-15 years in response. This means that we’re constantly developing and refining the ways in which we derive insight and present meaningful data.

Really exciting for us, but we’re also aware that it presents a challenge to the industry – to you:  How in the world do you start incorporating measurement as an agency when you didn’t even find time for breakfast this morning?

So we killed two birds with one stone and hosted a breakfast focused on measurement. Amidst the mountain of pastries, hash browns and sausages, we shared insight around case studies of award-winning measurement and our agency guests challenged us with obstacles they experience in measurement.

As we suspected, our guests saw the path to effective and standardised measurement as a bit muddy and murky, requiring some serious wellies. And they weren’t alone. A few months back, we conducted surveys across the PR industry in advance of the 2015 AMEC Summit and found that 80% of PRs wanted to incorporate more sophisticated measurement into their work, but felt that there was not enough practical guidance out there to begin.

So we started the morning by looking at a few case studies for which we’d won awards at AMEC to illustrate what we see as crucial to meaningful and insightful measurement:

  • The work that we did with Nesta looked at the impact of PR in relation to other marketing activities and is summarised neatly here.
  • With UNICEF, our measurement spanned multiple markets and informs the campaign planning process. The case study for our work on their Child Protection campaign can be found here.
  • Our work with The Stroke Association incorporates survey data, allowing for correlations to be drawn between PR activity and changes in public awareness. Find this here.
  • Finally, our work with Samsung was referenced frequently as well, especially in regards to competitor benchmarking. Find that here.

Three lessons stood out from these projects:

Evidence of learned and changed behaviours

We pat ourselves on the back when we’re reviewing an evaluation report with a client and his/her reaction is “wow – looks like we need to do more of that” or “hmm – that obviously didn’t work but I can see what we need to change”. From our perspective, sharing your excellent results is only half the value of evaluation – we strive to build measurement frameworks that clearly address the ‘so what?’ factor.

Measurement also makes it easier to learn from your competitors. It’s hugely useful when you can drill down and see which journalists and which publications your competitors are focused on – or even how they’re managing their engagement on social networks. Learning from evaluation doesn’t need to sit solely with PR teams either – in a recent example, our measurement of spokesperson effectiveness helped to make the case for increased spokesperson training. Compelling stuff!

Alignment with wider business objectives

The survey we ran earlier this year unveiled another telling statistic – only 25% of PR teams reported  to have clear communication objectives.

At Gorkana, we use something called a Communications Cascade to help clients identify these objectives by starting with the wider business objectives and working our way down to measureable PR results. This is an example of what we used with the Stroke Association:

Not only does this ensure your efforts are as efficient and effective as possible, but it also means your results are directly related (read: relevant) to the goals and objectives of the board from whom you’d like a bit more budget.

Incorporation of external data sources

All of our best measurement aims to incorporate external data, providing a quantitative alternative to AVEs. This example from our work with Nesta illustrates that concept perfectly, incorporating several other types of marketing activity into a statistical modelling piece to demonstrate the value of PR. However, results became clearer when viewed in conjunction with a poll run by the BBC.

The poll asked people where they had heard of the prize – and most referenced PR activity. Thus, the conclusion to be drawn was that the initial PR push was indeed crucial to the success of the campaign. And it doesn’t need to stop there…the list of external data sources patiently waiting to be integrated into measurement reporting is long! Google analytics, Twitter analytics, social media engagement, sales results, marketing activities, SEO stats…and the list goes on.

So now you’re set. Right? Mmm…probably not. The response we got at our breakfast was “well…easier said than done”. Consequently, the second part of our discussion focused on obstacles to client buy-in.

Standardisation of approach

How are you meant to start measuring when everyone is measuring in a different way? We have a few answers for that. First, the Barcelona Principles (2.0!) are a great place to start. They include things like the importance of qualitative metrics, necessary alignment with business objectives and the banishment of AVEs.

The onus is on the industry to start requiring that any kind of measurement aligns with these tenants. We’ll keep talking about them if you keep talking about them. And we’ll even talk to you (and your clients) about them first if it helps.

Next, we recommend a framework of measurement – essentially a suite of options, set methods and a set pricing structure that allows your measurement offerings to be scalable and flexible. This also allows for the intellectual capital of the measurement programme to sit squarely with your agency, even if it’s being outsourced to *cough*Gorkana*cough. We can help you set that up.

Now a standardised methodology is all well and good, but it does leave one crucial question unanswered. How do you know the results are good results? I’ll share our approach: At Gorkana, we measure and evaluate with hundreds of organisations spanning all sectors, from finance to charities to utilities to the UK Government.

This means we’ve been able to develop aggregated data sets, spanning our entire client base over the last several years, which allow us to provide industry-specific benchmarking. In effect, you’re able to set targets and compare results from those of your peers.

We also encourage fully-benchmarked evaluation, where the same metrics are tracked for a set of competitors so you’re able to measure competitively over time and – more importantly – evaluate and learn from your competitors’ results as well as your own.

From my experience, little is more compelling to a business than that.

Education

Finally, one of the most obvious obstacles was a lack of education. It’s impossible to train a team without resources, and really difficult to convince a client without case studies. Enter: AMEC.

“AMEC acts as the voice for public relations research and measurement, providing a forum and International network for sharing knowledge and best practice about communications research, media intelligence and insights.”

As the educational sponsor of AMEC, Gorkana is keen to hear more from you – our clients and our industry – about where we can focus our efforts to address this gap.What works for your teams? Workshops? Webinars? Case studies? For the time being, we’ll continue with all three. But let us know if you think of something better.

Also, it’s worth noting that as a result of our recent merger with several US-based measurement agencies, we’ll be looking at a whole suite of new offerings over the coming years. We want to make sure we’re addressing your needs, so we’ll be holding focus groups and are keen to get you involved. Let me know if you’d like to be a part of those discussions at [email protected].

Happy Measurement Month!

Gorkana meets…Jazz FM’s Business Breakfast

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Michael Wilson, presenter of Jazz FM’s Business Breakfast, on being the “Robert Palmer of the business world”, imagining the “typical” listener is his mum and having guests who can hit key notes in a three minute interview slot.

Some people might be surprised that Jazz FM broadcasts a programme like Business Breakfast; how did the show come about?

I’ve had a long and happy relationship with Jazz FM for 15 years or so, and when I was business editor at Sky, I approached them with a Jazz in the City idea which would include some good tunes and a panel of City experts talking about the main business stories and the markets. Then I did a Wilson’s Weekend look ahead which was sponsored by the FT, then the Jazz in the City programme as well. After that the Jazz team had the idea of a Business Breakfast – hence the show.

Jazz FM boasts a very high ABC1 audience – 73% according to the latest RAJAR numbers – the highest proportion in commercial radio. So reflecting the business and financial markets is natural for the station.

What is the remit of the show?

Our aim is to interpret what’s going on in the financial world in a way that is understandable and appetising. We’re helped by being based in London, the biggest financial centre in the world – not just because of its size but because of its time zone – sat between the close of the Asian markets and the open of Wall Street. That means we can provide a daily update from the global markets, aided by a commentator from sponsor CMC Markets and a stable of well-known City analysts. So the interaction is informal but informative.

The global financial world never stops; talk us through the process of putting the show together

During the previous day the business team of Jonny Hart and Nick Howard shape the show, and record interviews. They monitor the news agenda, coming up with some creative approaches to the big stories. They also put together three business news bulletins throughout the day for Jazz FM, so they’re always up to date.

Each evening we finalise the next morning’s programme as much as we can – I’m across the news agenda of course, so I’m up to speed. As you say, the financial world never stops, so we’re reactive to overnight stories, so that when 6am rolls around, we’ve got the most up to date news, and the best guests, for our audience.

Nick Howard is the main contact for PRs – he can be reached on +44 (0)20 3637 3913 and [email protected]

Who is a typical Business Breakfast listener?

He, or she, is employed probably by private business or is self employed, age immaterial and with a vested interest in the prosperity of him or herself, his or her colleagues and company, and because of that has an interest in where the money’s going. We’re also conscious that our listeners are well informed and intelligent so we need to be both of those things. And we’re aware that some listeners aren’t necessarily business ‘types’ and we have to engage them as well. I’ve always, in my broadcasting career, assumed I was talking to someone like my mum – not a financial expert but an intelligent person who will listen to what I say if I say it simply, and justify why she should be listening.

Who are your competitors and what sets you apart from them?

It’s mainly the BBC – specifically 5live which broadcasts a similar programme to ours. However we like to think the Business Breakfast provides a distinct and broader alternative – we even have a bit of music in between the serious stuff. It’s a great way to start your day! Apart from us and the Beeb there’s little else on UK mainstream radio focusing on business.

What makes an ideal guest for the show?

Well informed and relevant guests for the day’s agenda. You’d be surprised at how many guests haven’t really thought through what they’re going to say. When I’m media training people, I tell them that they must have three or four main things to say in a three minute interview – pithy and well thought out – even more so since the average listener probably only takes about two of them away. So preparation is all – as is brightness, bearing in mind the programme is between 6 and 6.30am. My attitude is, if you’re going to do the show, then do the show!

How can PRs help with content?

We’re looking at new business stories which affect everything to do with business, and the best ones have a human angle of behaviour, employment, or anything innovative. From ‘how to ask for a pay rise’ to the tax implications of the Autumn Statement. Obviously the more interesting and novel the better.

Are there any dos and don’ts PRs dealing with you should be aware of?

Plenty of the above really. Most of all, go to the team with a fully formed idea and then offer a bit of background for us to digest.

Michael, you are Britain’s longest-serving television Business and Economics Editor. How has reporting of this sector changed during your career?

As far as changing stories are concerned I just go with the flow. I have certain things I believe in – like you have to have a successful business community which is enabled by government, because it’s the only thing that pays the bills – and generally speaking a decent level of employment is a civilising factor in a nation.

Following the Crash, banking stories have become increasingly part of the main news agenda; do you see business news continuing to follow this trend?

Oh yes – years ago business leapt from the inside back part of newspapers and down-bulletin mentions on the TV news, into the headlines. All those years ago the Big Bang forced a rowdy mix of City toffs and East End barrowboys together and the City’s never looked back, for better or worse. Now the markets are truly global, so the gambling of a Chinese “stock better” does have a real effect on your company, your salary and your pension. Which always makes me think that there should be a lot more financial education in schools – most people have no shame in saying they are financially illiterate – would you ever admit you can’t spell?

You could have joined your friend Robert Palmer’s (80s pop star) band from school. Any regrets?

Ah yes – the standing family joke! Alan (before ‘Robert’) asked me if I’d join his ‘group’ the Mandrakes when we were about 15. But Mum said “no, I can’t afford an electric piano for you, and you’re in the middle of your O levels”. So that was it.

I envied him the lifestyle that he eventually got to, but I’m not sure I could have put up with crashing around the UK in an old van for years and playing crappy venues for almost nothing. Or maybe I could. But I’m very happy with the career business broadcasting has given me. I did eventually play in a rock ‘n’ roll band for 20 years and I even performed with the Jazz FM All Stars – so I can’t really complain.

What current Jazz FM single or album do you have in the car at the moment?

Gregory Porter, Liquid Spirit.

Michael was speaking to Gorkana’s Ronan George

How creating original video won us the pitch

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Preparing the proposal
On my first day at Bottle as Content Lead, I was invited into a pitch meeting where we were planning a proposal for a prospective client. By the end of the meeting we had come up with some really promising ideas that would go on to form our proposal. On top of the proposal, we wanted to do something to stand out from the other agencies and this was a good opportunity to put my film-making and design skills to the test.

By the end of my first day, I had created a 30 second video, shot on an iPhone,  with some post-production effects created in Adobe After Effects.

We’re not talking high production values here but it was a neat idea, well executed. We made a different video every day that week, keeping them up to date with how our proposal was coming together, culminating in the final video, titled “Nailed it”.

Our client told us that her colleagues were starting to really look forward to the little video that would be waiting in their inboxes each morning.

Our proposal clearly stood out, as we were shortlisted –  then went on to win the account. Cue popping champagne corks!

Why content matters
The videos alone didn’t win Bottle the job. Our strong ideas, good reputation and clear understanding of the brief is what shone through. The videos were a fun gimmick but a gimmick that worked – and as a non-London agency we’re always aware that we often go into competitive pitches as the underdog –  the videos allowed us to demonstrate our creativity, skill and enthusiasm.

We wanted to prove that they’d be an important client to us and we could deliver great ideas quickly and with panache. Every bit of correspondence is a vital chance to reveal personality and to add emotion to an often clinical process.

Ideas for your next pitch
The possibilities are endless when it comes to standing out: hire a brass band to walk down your client’s street, get a plane to write your agency’s name in the sky or train a parrot to recite your entire proposal – or, there are some more down-to-earth things  you can add to your next pitch.

Illustrate your ideas
Stop relying on pictures of cats you found on the internet to sum up your ideas in powerpoint, work with a designer or illustrator to create something simple but original that ties your idea into your potential client’s brand. Send your client small pieces of artwork ahead of the meeting to get them excited.

Send gifts
We’re not talking a case of Dom Perignon here, you can’t bribe your way into your client’s hearts (well you probably can but you’ll feel dirty and hemorrhage money very quickly). Think about something small and quirky that relates to their brief.

Make it personal
Whatever you decide to do, it’s important to relate it to your potential client’s brand. So if you’re pitching to a shoe company, recreate their logo with shoelaces or make a portrait of their CEO using footprints. Real creativity involves going the extra mile.

Agencies often rely on the final meeting to make a good impression but at Bottle we pride ourselves on thinking differently and catching attention… from chemistry meeting right up to the end decision.

Would we recommend it?
A lot of time and effort was put into the videos and it’s hard to justify that much investment as, no matter how good you are, you’re never going to win every pitch. However, I think it was a good lesson for us on the importance of demonstrating your creativity when pitching, not just telling people about it.

By Wes West, Content Lead at Bottle

Follow Wes on Twitter

 

Gorkana meets…Daily Telegraph Stylist and Shopping

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Sophie Warburton, stylist and shopping editor at the Daily Telegraph, on relaunching the fashion website, the mix of high end and high street content and why PRs need to place the reader at the heart of their pitch.

You’ve been stylist and shopping editor for the Daily Telegraph for nearly a yearsophie-warburton – tell us about your role and what you cover.

The role is incredibly diverse; covering both menswear and womenswear (and a bit of beauty) for online, the newspaper, Telegraph Magazine, Stella and supplements. It is a mixture of sourcing product to illustrate fashion features, compiling retail pages and shooting main fashion.

How closely do you work with the rest of the fashion team? How many people are on the team?

The team works very closely together and collaboration is much encouraged at The Telegraph, be it bouncing ideas off one another or a writer and stylist teaming up for a specific feature. We are a big fashion and beauty team working across many platforms; around 15 in total.

The Telegraph fashion website has just been relaunched with a new look – what has changed?

The new site is, hopefully, far more user friendly. It still contains large amounts of well thought out, well presented content, with a balance between breaking-news stories, longer length reads and product. The relaunch has been part of a successful online drive for The Telegraph which saw a new record of 104 million unique monthly visitors in May.

Have changes to online impacted the print fashion content?

We have always thought of the two platforms side-by-side. All our content has to work in both formats, and resonate with both readers. One of the great things about online is that we have very clear analytics about reader engagement, and what type of stories they are picking up on. We would be foolish to ignore this when it comes to the print content.

What does The Telegraph reader look for from style and shopping content?

They are not afraid of spending money, but want something that will last them more than just the season. Our readers are happy to shop both the high street and luxury stores, but are ultimately after chic and timeless buys. We are pushing for our male reader to be a little more adventurous!

How much feedback do you get from readers?

A huge amount from the print readers – they love to write in and share their opinion. We are hoping to encourage greater engagement across Twitter, Instagram and other social platforms. Reader feedback is invaluable.

How would you describe your relationship with PRs?

We try to get out and about to meet with as many PRs as possible, although time is at a premium. Email is the best way to pitch to the team, and we want to be as responsive as possible, giving feedback, be it good or bad (or occasionally ugly).

How best can PRs help with content?

By pitching well considered products and features that are relevant to our reader.

Are you only interested in exclusive content?

Not necessarily, but if it’s not exclusive we need to have a different type of access, different peg, and different imagery.

What should PRs keep in mind when pitching ideas?

The reader (and time constraints).

You also edit a bi-weekly men’s retail column in the paper. Anything PRs can do to help?

The column alternates between shopping pages and news stories. Any interesting new brand, store, or product launches are always much welcomed. It is great if they can share as much information on the initial email as possible, and always include imagery as it is pivotal for the page.

Finally, we understand you have a weakness for unusual jewellery. What is your most recent unusual buy?

A ring, which I love, by the brilliant new London-based jeweller Gee Woods. She’s one to watch.

Sophie was talking to Gorkana’s Richard O’Donnell

Diversity should be more than just a slogan

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Just a few weeks ago Washington DC was awash with rainbow colours and delighted celebrations as the Supreme Court legalised same-sex marriage nationwide. A sea-change for America. And a signal for the rest of us, too.

Faster than ever before, attitudes are changing and what constitutes “mainstream” is diluting. We are embracing difference –  seeing the value of not everyone being and doing and looking the same –  as never before.

This of course helps to enrich society, in so many ways.  And for marketing organisations, this provides a huge opportunity.  And a challenge: to seek to understand and engage groups of consumers that have previously gone unrecognised.

But this embracing of diversity and difference should be more than just a campaign for marketers and the creative industry at large.  It should be something tangible that consumers, clients and employees feel, at their core, is being delivered by brands, corporations and employers.

A key to creating true diversity and inclusion in the culture of a company stems from recruitment.  And here lies the challenge for organisations to shake up the foundations of their workplace philosophy to ensure that inclusivity is something that is indeed tangible for both employees and clients.

Diversity cannot simply be preached by agency leaders as a buzzword.  Instead, a fundamental change in recruitment and in business leadership needs to happen.

The practical steps that can be taken within recruitment and HR to create a more diverse workforce within an agency can be summed up in three key areas: investment, role models and tracking. Investment in creating employee networks, enrolling on programmes such as Stonewall Diversity Champions, promoting diverse talent and developing a clear strategy to drive diversity: all of these are important to attract and retain diverse staff, and to give a real quality of diversity branding to the company’s work.

Role models across all levels of an agency are needed to celebrate and promote diversity. And tracking and measurement of who is within your agency in order to set targets and benchmark levels of diversity are essential to demonstrate that the changes are happening.

The pace of changing attitudes in society about what constitutes mainstream, and the recognition of the value of diversity, have not yet been reflected in the lifeblood of many marketing organisations, or indeed in business at large.  There are some initiatives that are breaking new ground in changing this. Through being an authentic individual in the workplace, an employee can bring out the greater creativity in themselves.  The confidence that comes from being supported in who and what you are, and the ability to reach out to all parts of society that follows from that, are invaluable to the success of a creative business.

If you are committed to building a creative organisation, the first thing you need to do is to embrace ideas and ways of thinking that are different to your own.  This means celebrating difference.  Diversity and inclusion are just as important for the next phase of creativity within the industry, and to ensure effective marketing, as they are for good personnel relationships within a company.

It is not just creative organisations that are starting to recognise the benefits of diversity. For the past twenty years the banking and legal sectors have invested heavily to ensure they have a range of different people in their organisation. For example, Deutsche Bank, IBM, EY, Barclays, Reed Smith and Thomson Reuters have made strong progress to promote LGBT inclusion within their business, implementing the key areas of investment, role models and tracking to drive change.

By 2020 it is estimated that in London the traditional mainstream majority will be outnumbered by minority groups in aggregate.  Across the country, most people will be more at ease with the acceptance and even celebration of difference.  Agencies need to reflect more the people in the market in which they are operating, in order to understand and embrace this huge shift in society to the full.  Only then will the true commercial opportunity be realised.

Shifts in social attitudes; the considerable spending power of minority groups; the creative bonus that comes from recognising the variety within markets; and the importance of supporting and sustaining the confidence of all employees, no matter who they are, and drawing out the very best from them:  all of these are fundamental to the success of contemporary marketing.  And in order to do this, businesses must look to their recruitment, their policies, their culture, and their leadership.

Diversity must become more than just a slogan.

By Lord Chris Smith , Chairman of the ASA and Andrew Barratt, Head of Ogilvy Pride UK

 

John Lewis seeks agency

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John Lewis is on the hunt for a PR agency to develop and deliver a campaign for its new flagship shop in Leeds, which is due to open in late 2016.

John Lewis will be the anchor tenant of the Victoria Gate development, in Leeds, which will complement the existing Victoria Quarter shopping arcade. The shop will sit across four storeys and feature a three dimensional facade.

The successful pitch will cover pre-opening, launch and post-opening phases, and will engage local and national media, as well as community stakeholders.

The successful agency will need to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the city of Leeds, conveying a sense of pride at becoming part of the city, and championing John Lewis’ £32 million investment in the development.

The 18-month campaign will build consumer interest and brand awareness ahead of opening, and maintain this level of interest after the launch, with the ultimate aim of driving footfall and increasing consumer spend at the new branch.

Pitches will take place in August. Interested agencies should send their credentials to [email protected] by Friday 31 July.

The John Lewis Partnership operates 44 John Lewis shops across the UK, johnlewis.com, 339 Waitrose shops, waitrose.com and B2B contracts in the UK and abroad. The business has annual gross sales of more than £10 billion.

Inspiring lessons in communications from Cannes Lions

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Emily MorganAll the inspiring work at Cannes Lions got me thinking about excellence in communications generally. And how although we all really love a big award-winning creative idea we know that clients want and need brilliant basics too.

So here’s an imaginary set of communications awards we can aspire to win… in our own minds.

Best rebuttal: Gently correcting media for inaccurate reporting is a horrible but essential job. And it takes real skill to get the outcome you need without causing offence.

Best media list: Chucking your content far and wide and hoping it sticks is a thing of the past. Precise targeting using audience data and an in-depth understanding of what the media want can be a laborious process for sure. But it’s worth it for the results that lead to measurable outputs.

Best competitor tracking: Knowing what and how your competitors are communicating is essential when considering your own comms strategy. No one lives in a vacuum. Audiences are receiving a myriad of messages but we usually don’t have the budget to track every item of competitor coverage.

Best multi-tasker: Getting a story out can be like making a roast dinner with all the trimmings. In the last ten mins everything needs your attention at the same time. A cool head is essential simultaneously juggling the needs of media, bloggers, clients, teams etc.

Best data analysis: Not being good with figures in today’s age of big data could be your downfall. Creating a ten second soundbite from a ten page data set takes intelligence, an eye for detail as well as big picture thinking.

Best contacts: In an age where ‘content is king’ and quite rightly celebrated, the skill it takes to get someone to look at that content is often over-looked. To build, maintain and nurture relationships takes a huge amount of effort, and the ability to listen not just sell.

Best event bible: A ‘check-list’ is not sufficient for event brilliance. You need to go deep… and it’s a slog to get there. But an event is LIVE… there’s no scope for mistakes and you need to have thought through every possible scenario.

Best blogger research: Really taking your time to get to understand bloggers/vloggers/instagrammers etc certainly takes time. There’s a lot of content to review! Taking the task seriously means spot-on recommendations and ultimately spot-on content.

Given these are imaginary awards, I think I’ll end there and have an imaginary glass of bubbles now with my fellow imaginary judges.

By Emily Morgan, MD, Consumer (Life) at  Red Consultancy

Follow Emily on Twitter too!

 

Gorkana meets…Daily Mirror’s Clemmie Moodie

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Clemmie Moodie, associate features editor at the Daily Mirror, on being very upfront with PRs, having no set readers and an unfortunate incident involving the world’s ugliest dog.

clemmiemoodie

Clemmie Moodie

You’ve been at the Daily Mirror for seven years, and as well as being associate features editor, you’ve just taken over the paper’s entertainment section, The Ticket – how are you finding the new remit?

It’s very early days so we are all still finding our feet, I think. But now that I am across both film and music, and able to forward plan a bit more, the idea is to increase content in both The Ticket and the front of the paper.

Which colleagues at the Daily Mirror do you work with most closely?

I liaise directly with the features desk – Clare Fitzsimons, Nick Webster and Jess Boulton – and, in terms of The Ticket, speak to David Edwards for all things film, and Gavin Martin for music.

What sort of content does The Ticket cover?

Essentially The Ticket is a comprehensive guide for what’s coming up in the world of film and entertainment, and what we should all be listening to/playing/watching. As well as movie, album and single reviews, it also covers video games and gig reviews. It’s also a great place to discover up n’ coming bands or musicians.

How would we spot a reader?

There is no set reader, but basically anyone wanting to plan their weekend or looking for something to go and see the following week will be reading, likewise anyone wanting to update their Spotify or show-off their muso credentials! Old or young, pretty much every genre is covered.

What sort of feature content works best for the paper and online?

Obviously, exclusivity is key; we want to be running something first that the other papers don’t have. In terms of The Ticket, it is always great to be the first national newspaper to cover an artist who goes on to be massive – it also won’t go unnoticed by the PR (and artist themselves).

We can also run exclusive clips from games or films to run online. In terms of the main paper, I always want to interview people who genuinely interest me, who have done great things or who are massive names. I am far more interested in, say, Sir Ian McKellen than I am the cast of TOWIE.

How would you describe your relationship with PRs?

After 10 years – firstly in showbiz and now features – I’d like to think it was pretty good! I tend to be very upfront with PRs and will always give them a steer on what I’m writing, even down to headlines if they ask (nicely); although these conversations can be painful at the time, it’s better to forewarn PRs and work together than for them to have a nasty shock the following day and lose a relationship.

It’s also vitally important to be decent so that people want to work with you time and time again; I’m not interested in burning bridges.

How can PRs help with content?

Be proactive, read the paper(!) and never be afraid to suggest a feature or interview. I’d rather be bombarded with ideas, than have an empty inbox.

How important is exclusivity?

Very, but clearly the nature of The Ticket means a lot of our content will be generic – every paper will review the next big Disney movie, for example. Having said that, we will always want something that sets us apart from rival supplements.

You tweeted recently: “Just heard my esteemed colleague on the phone, ingeniously fobbing off a relentless PR: ‘Sorry, I’m on work experience.’ How do you deal with “relentless PRs”?

Oh God! I shouldn’t be allowed on social media… No, really – I’m not a huge fan of the phone, and generally prefer someone pitching to me over email. But if it is something that needs an instantaneous yes/no, then obviously call me as well.

Top tips for PRs when pitching?

Be upfront, keep it brief and, ideally, make it exclusive. In terms of interviews, the bigger, the better, but I am also a sucker for anything quirky or sporty, so very often will go for something other people might turn down. Anything that gets me exercising is also usually a winner!

You’ve said in the past that you always wanted to be a sports journalist – how did you end up in entertainment?

By default! I was told by my first ever editor post-university that my CV was “too sporty” and I should consider “evening it out” with a stint in features and entertainment. 11 years later…

Until September last year you were also one of the famed 3AM girls – do you miss it or is it a case of “once a 3AM girl, always a 3AM girl”?

The day Private Eye described me as “3AM ‘Girl’ Clemmie Moodie…” was the day I knew enough was enough. But yes, I can still drink like a Wasps prop – and am quite often still staggering around a party at 3am.

You’ve won several awards over the years, including Most Funny Columnist at the 2013 LAFTA Awards. To finish, we challenge you to make us laugh…no pressure!

Er, thanks for that. Unfortunately this isn’t a joke – during my recent “interview” with Tuna, the world’s ugliest dog (which we blurbed on the front page), Tuna the Chihuahua sported a massive erection throughout. The poor photographer had to crop the photos, and the video, and I am still traumatised. I’ve not heard the end of it in the office, either. Does this count?

Clemmie was talking to Gorkana’s Richard O’Donnell

Gorkana meets…Attitude

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Gorkana catches up with Attitude editor Matthew Todd on celebrating the gay men’s magazine’s 21st birthday and launching the inaugural Attitude Pride Awards.

Attitude turned 21 this month – how does it feel to come of age?

It’s strange. When Attitude started in 1994 the age of consent for gay men was 21, so this birthday holds some significance. So much has changed for gay people; it’s mind boggling. It’s amazing and kind of moving to see all the things we have done – from Neil Tennant coming out in Attitude, Gareth Thomas giving us his first post-coming out interview, David Beckham being the first straight footballer to be on the cover of a gay magazine, and the first time a serving PM had ever given an interview to the gay press. It’s great to look back.

You’ve also launched the inaugural Attitude Pride Awards, which take place tonight – tell us more.

We do a fantastic event every October – the Attitude Awards – which celebrate the cultural and political figures who have shaped our readers’ year. It’s my favourite night of the year with celebrities from Cher to Sir Ian McKellen to Jonathan Ross to Tom Daley to Naomi Campbell in attendance.

It’s great that the country sees people they know and love celebrating at a gay event, but we also wanted to celebrate the real heroes of the LGBT movement, who are the people on the ground surviving, battling, and helping other people. This event celebrates them. There won’t be a dry eye in the house. All their stories are in the issue that has just come out and they are on the cover, which is very different for us.

Who is the typical Attitude reader?

A homosexual with intelligence, good looks and amazing taste. Subscribe at www.attitude.co.uk. Seriously though, it’s all age ranges and different kinds of people. We have very young people reading us right up to people in their 90s. That is the gift and the curse of editing a gay magazine. The readers are all very different and only share one thing: sexuality. We actually have quite a few straight women readers too. The challenges of appealing to all of them keeps us on our toes, but it’s not easy.

How has the content changed over the years and what is the split of content in each issue?

The tone has changed. It was created to be a perhaps less political magazine than other gay publications at the time. But over those 21 years much of the other gay media has become less political, and I like to think under my editorship we’ve again thrown more serious issues into the mix. There isn’t a set split every month. It depends what we’re covering. We do serious content, for instance we were the only publication to get an interview with all of the major party leaders for the last election, but we also do lots of fun stuff.

Our recent Matthew Lewis cover, showing Neville Longbottom all grown up, went viral across the world after J K Rowling tweeted about it. We cover fun, fluffy stuff but also report on serious issues such as mental health.

Since the magazine launched, the gay community has seen some important legislative changes, from the equal age of consent to gay marriage. How important do you think the gay press has been when it comes to campaigning for these changes?

Attitude is a bit of a Trojan horse in that as it’s not an explicitly political magazine it enables us to engage readers in some of those issues which they might not be reading about elsewhere. We might have a shirtless man on the cover but inside, as we did with the last issue, you might find a big feature about climate change, for instance. I’m very aware of that when we put the magazine together.

Talk us through the main sections of the magazine.

We have the edit section – all the smaller bits about what is happening that month like music, film etc with smaller interviews. Then we have our style section edited by our great fashion director Joseph Kocharian. We have our cover feature followed by our features section. We have our active health and fitness section and then a section that focuses on real life people. People sometimes think that it’s all shirtless men, but we have a dating page, a page on long-term couples, a page on gay parenting, an interview with a gay man over 50 and a guy with a regular body talking about body image every month. We aim to cover a lot of bases.

Which parts of the magazine can PRs help most with?

Predominantly, it would be with reviews, the style section, travel, lifestyle, feature ideas and cover stars. We have a brilliant website that gets more than two million hits a month so we reach a lot of people with a lot of interests. Gay people are across all demographics so we cover just about everything.

The magazine’s covers have become renowned for attracting big celebrities, both gay and straight. What type of celebrity resonates most with readers?

As with all magazines, attractive people shift copies. But there are also specific cultural covers – like putting Beth Ditto on the cover as the first lesbian. We’ve had Stephen Fry too and Will Young guest edited an issue for us. Kylie has always launched issues with us. We had Madonna’s only UK gay press interview; Elton and David gave us their only interview for their civil partnership; David Beckham gave us his only gay press interview; we had Heath Ledger’s only UK gay press interview for Brokeback Mountain; and Tom Hardy’s only gay press interview in the world. One month it might be the Prime Minister, then Lady Gaga, then someone handsome from a soap opera. We try to mix it up as much as possible.

Can PRs help with cover model ideas?

Absolutely. We’re always receptive to helpful ideas.

Top tips for PRs when pitching?

Be short and sweet. Contact us by email and send kisses and cakes.

And finally, what will Attitude be doing to celebrate London Gay Pride this year?

We are throwing our 21st birthday and inaugural Attitude Pride Awards, at the Grosvenor House Hotel, tonight, where celebrities will give awards to 12 amazing every day heroes from the community. The cream of the gay (and gay friendly) world will be there, so I’m really excited. Alan Cumming is hosting directly after he hosted the Tony Awards so it’s going to be a fantastic party and a very emotional evening I expect.

Matthew was talking to Gorkana’s Richard O’Donnell