10 Yetis PR News

10 Yetis Examples of Good and Bad Public Relations - Tuesday 30th April 2013

Hello! Christina here with Tuesday's Good and Bad PR. Let's go!

Good PR

Ever been out drinking with a buddy or a friend of a buddy and think, "I really like this person, we should stay in touch." Cue struggle with drink, bag, coat and phone in that order. Well, if all goes to plan, we could be seeing a different way to get people's contact details while on a night out. Budweiser, the beer company, has recently developed a prototype which allows drinkers to access another drinker's contact details without a phone. The so-called "Buddy Cup" allows two cup holders to become Facebook friends when they tap cups.

According to Budweiser, a computer chip with a 'bump sensor' is integrated into the bottom of the cup with a QR code, which works with a Budweiser app to link the cup to your Facebook account. When two people clink glasses, the friend request is sent from one to another.

A great idea but it does call into question a couple of privacy issues - what if you don't want to be friends with the person you are drinking with? Do you have to log in and then remember to log out so future drinkers don't have access to your personal FB account? Will the chips be damaged if they are put through the wash?

Unfortunately, the special cups are only available in Brazil but they would certainly be a fun thing to try and judging by the interest from consumers and journalists alike, Budweiser is onto a PR winner.

Bad PR

Beyonce seems to be in a bit of hot water at the moment as she has placed a ban on unapproved photos during her latest Mrs. Carter tour. After the Superbowl debacle where loads of 'unapproved' photos flooded the internet, with Beyonce's PR team trying to block or in some cases ban certain photos from being seen, it seems that Queen B is taking no chances this time around. The star has apparently banned unapproved photographers and has even gone as far as to censure photos released to the media after her shows. To make matters worse, the singer's company Parkwood Entertainment is only giving out three to five pre-approved images to the media after every show, leaving fans to scour Twitter and other sites for photos and videos of the show.

With the lack of photos of any kind circulating the web, gossip publications and bloggers are resulting to paying fans for photos, some of which are of poor quality. As Queen B seems to grabble with this bad photos problem, certainly this is not the way to go about it? Perhaps if she laughed about the Superbowl photos instead of demanding publication censure or remove them would have been a better move?

Such diva behavior resulted in Queen B receiving our Bad PR award today.

	Christina posted on 30/04/2013		post a comment

10 Yetis Examples of Good and Bad Public Relations - Monday 29th April 2013

Hey there folks, Lloyd here with Monday's good and bad PR. Enjoy!

Good PR

The CD is rapidly becoming history as the online sale of music takes over. 'Now That's What I Call Music' albums have been around since its first release in 1983. With the advent of the digital age though and with the option to buy songs on their own via iTunes, it only seemed a matter of time before the format became obsolete.

However, according to sales figures, this simply isn't so. Sales of compilation albums have been soaring. By buying 'in bulk' as it were, consumers are getting a much better deal for individual tracks as you get about 40 tunes on one album for £10-12, which is much cheaper than buying them individually at around 99p each.

So, although it's mainly down to pricing strategy, it's good PR for compilation albums as, if people weren't aware of the financial benefits before, they are now.

Bad PR

Sometimes when you receive a package in the mail it can look a little dog-eared. Previously I've had an image of a Postman Pat lookalike tootling about in his van, whistling jauntily and being a generally all round good guy. I attribute any misshapen packages to an unfortunate incident where said postman trips over his feline companion in some sort of comical mishap, followed by him wearily shaking his head and trying to rectify the minimal damage caused to the parcel. That illusion has been shattered by the undercover footage of workers at UK Mail dropping and kicking packages in a huge warehouse with scant regard for what's inside.

Now I see some good-for-nothing, thoughtless layabout doing a job reluctantly and half heartedly with no consideration for other people's property. Cheers, UK Mail, you've ruined my quaint image of a sorting office akin to Mrs Goggins' counter. Bad PR to you.

	Lloyd posted on 29/04/2013		post a comment

10 Yetis Asks - Is It Still Okay to Work From Home, Even in a 24 Hour World?

One of the biggest discussions going on in America at the moment is whether or not employees should have the option to be able to work from home. With Yahoo! being in the press earlier this year when newly appointed CEO Marissa Mayer announced that workers who had previously been allowed to work from home would have until June to start commuting to work, the issue surrounding working from home exploded onto the main stage. Continuing this discussion, this week's PRWEEK contained an article asking whether or not the PR industry would benefit from such a working setup and whether or not they would get more done working from home or in an office.

As we love a good old fashioned debate, we felt this too good an opportunity to miss throwing in our two cents and discussing which set up produces more effective results in the long term for PR professionals.

YES, let's work from home!

As I have worked both part and full time for 10 Yetis, I can say that making the transition to becoming a full time office employee, when I previously worked from home for a healthy living book company, took a bit of getting used to. Working in an office is great, but you also have to take into account other factors i.e. the commute, radio/TV preferences, coffee/tea breaks and other distractions that may influence and affect your work. Working from home means that you get to set your own agenda and as many PRs are accessible 24/7, even when travelling or vacationing, the idea of the agency office and staying put seems slightly antiquated and outdated. As more clients expect us to be reachable and constantly monitoring their account and coverage at all hours, many times I find myself reading news stories and checking up on the competition outside of so-called work hours. Being in PR means you are constantly on call and with the influence of social media and constant media streaming, a successful PR person's day is never done.

What does this mean for PR?

In the past, some of my fellow Yetis have had to work from home for various reasons and because all of us have a mobile, a computer of some sort, access to the internet and most importantly, a social media account/presence, we are able to get on with it and make sure that everything that needed to get done was done with on time. Being in PR means that you have the flexibility and the ability to get things done without having to even show up to a physical office. While it is good to have a base, many PRs are constantly out meeting clients, drawing up creative campaigns on the fly and reacting to the latest news around them. As many of us in the industry already work crazy hours outside the normal 9-5 work day, working from home is just another accepted aspect of the job. If you are like me and look after international clients, your hours will take into account the time difference, working later to coincide with NY and LA time, not UK time. Working from home, therefore, would be a piece of cake.

PROS

Less distractions (some would say), more time to focus on campaigns and a quieter working environment. Say goodbye to distracting office chats and hello to your own personal zen working area. Even better if you have a personal office or a secluded area where you can get loads of work done, in half the time.

CONS

You often miss out on meetings that can be planned or impromptu, depending on the situation and the client. You could also be present via Skype or telephone conference call but, in PR, I'm a firm believer in face to face meetings to have a better idea what is going on and how the campaign is going. Also, I find that when I work at home, I often work longer hours and later into the night. Working at home means there is no work/ life balance as our lives are intertwined with the business, which can be a good thing in terms of productivity but a bad thing in terms of personal health. But most PRs wouldn't have it any other way.

NO, let's work from the office!

As any PR faithful will tell you, working in the office has its perks. Especially in PR, where team meetings often turn into brain storming sessions, which then turn into bonding experiences. Some of our best work has come out of throwing around various ideas for campaigns and stunt ideas. Put a load of creative and intelligent people in a room together and, more often than not, you will come up with various ideas and solutions. The agency becomes like a second family and we are all made up of different strengths and abilities. Working from an office allows those abilities to shine through.

What does this mean for PR?

Also, working in an office gives you a better idea of how the agency/business/company is moving forward and how together you can best pitch to clients. We often shout ideas and problems across our open planned office as if you need help thinking up an idea, chances are that someone will be around to help. A PR team that works well together can produce better results for the agency and, more importantly, the client.

At the end of the day, PR is a very people focused industry, so you need that constant human interaction.

PROS

Helps build a group focused work environment, where one can ask other members of the team for help and advice when stuck in a rut, thought-wise. Working from home means you miss out on meetings and on those inside jokes that only people in the office would know about. Also, lack of team building exercises mean you miss out on getting to know your colleagues and their various strengths work wise. Another point to consider is that office-based working provides better structure and a better work-life balance.

CONS

In an open planned office it can be difficult to get all your work done, especially if you have a lot to do. Concentrating while your colleagues are planning a new stunt, another is on the phone trying to sort out a campaign and someone else is trying to give an interview on the radio can be trying, to say the least. If you are one of those types of people who have to have complete silence while working, perhaps working in an agency isn't the best foot forward.

So there we have it - our thoughts on the great office/home debate. As you can see, both sides have pros and cons so our advice would be to try both types of employment opportunities to see which one works better for you.

	Christina posted on 29/04/2013		post a comment

10 Yetis Work Experience Blog- Keeleigh O'Malley

I have had such an amazing week here at 10 Yetis that I will miss the laid-back vibe of the office when I return to school. I have really enjoyed the chance to become independent and to see a working environment when I am actually in working in one and not just learning about it. My dramatic work experience school lessons prepared me for the worst, I was expecting health and safety hazards and little work to do but, my schedule has been packed with things to do and luckily there were no hazards.

When I first arrived at 10 Yetis, I was given work to do straight away. Each morning, I was given the task of writing out the newspaper headlines and wrote good and bad PR for the company's blog. I really enjoyed finding good examples for the blog. I also learnt various skills like 'cutting' and PR terminology like 'angles'. Another thing I was asked to do was choose the best four infographics to be uploaded to the website throughout the day. During the week, I sat in on various meeting. This gave me an opportunity to see what daily life is like in PR. One of my favourite things to do was write for mycelebrityfashion. I liked writing about things in the celebrity news today and putting my own spin on the titles given to me.

The best thing about working here was how welcoming everyone was. I was treated like an adult and not just someone from secondary school on work experience. Everyone has bubbly and fun personalities so it was fun to be around them for the week. Even if it was a lot of fun here, I have learnt specific knowledge of PR and this has influenced my career choice to hopefully work in PR one day. The environment here is very happy and laid back but work is done to the highest standard.

The experience here has been an amazing one; there hasn't been anything bad about it. I look forward to hopefully working in a place like this when I am older and I strongly urge everyone to come here for work experience.

	Emma Kent posted on 29/04/2013		post a comment