Brand Republic Blogs

Do you fancy a share of Facebook? General Motors certainly don’t. External website

by Chris Arnold, 21/05/2012

Currently, the world's largest social network started trading on the Nasdaq last week. With over 900 million users you can see the temptation. Did you buy shares? And if so, why?

Football madness taps into TV and social media in Latin America External website

by Margaret Rose Grigsby, 18/05/2012

Latin America is a continent largely possessed by football, with the exception of countries like Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Panama and, to a lesser degree, Venezuela, where baseball has been dominant since the US introduced it at the beginning of the 20^th Century.

by Charlotte Henry, 18/05/2012

Today Facebook debuts on the Nasdaq stock market in the US at $38 a share and will be valued at $104bn, netting Mark Zuckerburg $19bn. Yesterday we heard that Pinterest could be valued at $1.5bn. Recently, iPhone app Instagram was bought by Facebook for $1bn.

by Greg Taylor, 18/05/2012

Belgian supermarket Delhaize’s has designed a new line of packaging for its Wines of the World range that distinguishes the origin of each wine with a regionally-themed cork graphic.

The label of each bottle features an image of a cork that has been hand-carved, painted or accessorised to take on the cultural characteristics of the wine’s homeland.

by @gordonmacmillan, 18/05/2012

The number of tweets posted by journalists from UK media outlets fell by almost 25%, according to the latest NewsTweet Index from PR firm Portland, with big falls at Sky News, which could be linked to its controversial social media guidelines introduced earlier this year.

by Mark Rock, 18/05/2012

It’s the question on everyone’s lips today – would you invest in Facebook? As the company finalises its IPO price ahead of its market debut on Friday, the general consensus is a positive one – early reports show a huge amount of interest in owning a tiny piece of Facebook’s 900-million-user success story. Predictions suggest that the share price could push valuation up to $104bn – according to the Telegraph, this makes it more ‘valuable’ than both Disney and Ford.

by Chris J Reed, 18/05/2012

Heineken's Green Room at the Singapore Esplanade

Singapore is the stage of a ferocious battle between Carlsberg and Heineken for the mouth’s of thirsty Singaporean event goers. Both have both focused on entertainment venues to fight it out.

by Ivan Clark, 17/05/2012

If you not interested in Outdoor advertising, or more specifically DOOH (digital out-of-home) and digital signage, you probably want to stop reading now.

Yesterday I went to #ScreenMediaExpo at Earls Court in London, an exhibition and conference programme that “that mixes media and technology”.

by Sean Walsh, 17/05/2012

Arsenal topped the Twitter Social Media league with nearly 1.5 million Twitter followers (also the 3rd highest worldwide for a football club) in May. However, having the most followers doesn’t necessarily equate to being the best. Manchester City were this month’s champions both on the pitch and in the social media world.

by @gordonmacmillan, 17/05/2012

Tomorrow is IPO day for Facebook and as it goes to the market, with a valuation of $104bn, there are a raft of stories circulating about problems with its commercial operation.

by Sue Unerman, 17/05/2012

image source: www.telegraph.co.uk

May 2012 and once again I am not invited to Google Zeitgeist conference. How on earth am I to stay on top of what the zeitgeist actually is without 3 days in May rubbing shoulders with world leaders and media CEOs? Oh I know, its OK, I can ask an iphone 4S Siri.

by Richard Lambert, 17/05/2012

As the great and the good gather for the ninth annual Media360 Conference today, joint research by PR consultancy Braben and business intelligence company Polecat using its virtual analyst software MeaningMine shows over 35,000 articles on marketing and advertising around the world have been published online so far in 2012.

by Sam Fenton-Elstone, 17/05/2012

The impending EU e-Privacy Directive has brought renewed focus on the humble cookie, but whilst the subject of how to comply with the new law has caused much debate amongst agencies and marketers.

by @gordonmacmillan, 17/05/2012

This is worth a read. The Cabinet Office has published guidance for civil servants on the use of social media as well as tips for government Departments on how to overcome the technical barriers to civil servants accessing the internet and social media channels.

by Greg Taylor, 17/05/2012

Designer Philippe Starck has joined forces with American scientist David Edwards to develop a new spray that will get you drunk instantly, for just a few seconds.

The duo have named the aerosol concoction WA|HH Quantum Sensations – a lipstick-shaped dispenser of 0.075 ml of alcohol at a time, with micro-particles that stimulate the brain. The spray doesn’t get you seriously drunk as most drinks have 40-60 ml of alcohol in them (that’s 650 sprays). Each WA|HH device has 21 sprays and costs $26 (approx. £16). It was developed to give people the intoxicating pleasure of alcohol without all the negative consequences, like hangovers.

by @gordonmacmillan, 17/05/2012

Pinterest, the online notice board, has added another billion dollars to the value of social media as it raises $100m from investors and picks up a valuation of $1.5bn. The valuation is more than a seven fold increase on the $200m it was valued at the end of last year.

by Jack Horner, 17/05/2012

Usually the chattering, excited and snaking queue outside Islington’s Union Chapel are waiting in anticipation for a one off performance by a favourite band. Having been to numerous showcases there over the years, I love the dappled light through the stained glass and soft reverberation of the lofty church ceiling. It’s the perfect venue to experience bands like Elbow or even REM many moons ago.

by Scott Thompson, 17/05/2012

The growth of social media usage is by now well known and well documented. But publishers and broadcasters are also increasingly interested in building a social media presence.

For media brands who are used to talking to large audiences, a platform like
Twitter seems to provide new opportunities to create deeper levels of engagement and loyalty, as well as to reach wider audiences through word of mouth and ‘earned’ media.
So, to see how different types of media owners are performing, at Starcom MediaVestGroup London we have been using Echo (our suite of social media analysis tools) to take a look at a number of different titles across four categories to see what they were doing on Twitter— and how their audiences were reacting.

by Steve Hatch, 16/05/2012

Neil Hughes from 56 Up

This week saw the latest instalment of The Up Series. Originally commissioned by Granada television in 1965, Up is a documentary series that has followed the lives of 14 people from the age of 7, returning to each of them every seven years to see how they and their lives have changed (or not).

by Charlotte Henry, 16/05/2012

Brands are becoming ever more sensitive about how they are perceived online – nobody wants to become the latest Addison Lee.

This has led to them become more receptive to responding to complaints and queries posted by consumers in social networks. A new study by Fishburn Hedges shows that 65% of those polled felt social media was a better way to connect with a company than the traditional call centre. Only 7% thought they were worse off using social.