10 Yetis PR News posted by Andy

10 Yetis 5 things to bring you up to speed from the weekend - Facebook Home, BP, SF72, Panda-Love, Deep voiced CEOs

Here is our round up of things that may have slipped under your radar, so you appear fully up to speed with what has been going on over the weekend.

1. Facebook Home has Hit 500k of downloads already.
Wanna know what Facebook Home is, then go read this great social media news article. For those in the know, Techcrunch has reported that Facebook home has had 500k of downloads which is pretty sweet. And then you hear that Instagram got 1m per day at its peak. Mind you, as the article says, Facebook Home is not available on every Android phone yet.

2. The State of Florida goes after BP and Halliburton for loss of revenues caused by Oil spill
On the third anniversary (Saturday) of the BP and Halliburton oil spill off the coast of Florida, the State of Florida announced it is suing the two companies for loss of revenues. The revenues relate to loss of earning from various taxes including alcohol, petrol and tobacco etc etc, caused by the drop in visitor numbers.

3. The City of San Francisco is creating an emergency social network
After everything that has happened around the world recently, the idea of SF72 sounds brilliant. Essentially a social network that can be used for emergency messaging during a city-wide crisis.

4. Cannot force Panda loving
They Scottish zoo people tried everything from viagra through to turning the lights off (maybe not the former but deffo the latter) but the two Pandas would not get it on so the female Panda was artificially inseminated on Sunday. Maybe they knew the world was watching!

5. CEOs with deeper voices do better with the money
Apparently the deeper your voice the more money you will get as a CEO. The deep-voice-ceo-theory comes via The Duke and University of California. No really, they have figures and everything!

Happy to help,

Andy

	Andy posted on 22/04/2013		post a comment

10 Yetis 5 Things To Bring You Up to Speed on the Weekend Goings On - Reebok, Bieber, Marbles, Jackman and LinkRisk

Morning, Andy here. Nice weekend everyone?

Need to catch up on what has been going on over the weekend so you can look all switched on to your colleagues and bosses... ta da:

Just a little blog post highlighting 5 things I have learnt this weekend and today, hopefully vaguely sector related.

1. Reebok sacks Rick Ross
Rapper Rick Ross was given the Sugary Finger by Reebok because of lyrics in one of his songs where he seemingly confesses to date rape. He is now denying it but it was too late for Reebok and he outta here.

2. Justin Bieber is a twonk - re Anne Frank
Justin Bieber's fall from grace continues courtesy of him visiting the Anne Frank museum and proclaiming in the guest book that he felt Anne Frank would have been a "Belieber".

3. Jenna Marbles is a bit of a big deal
This NYT piece has trigger a new wave of love for the YouTube Fashion sensation. Taking Vid Blogging to the next level.

4. Hugh Jackman had an odd Gym sesh
A stalker got busted for weirdness against Hugh Jackman at his gym. It involved the pants region, some hair, and a razor. Stalker is now on bail.

5. LinkRisk is launching soon
A mate of mine is one of the guys behind a new link analysis tool, LinkRisk.com. Go sign up for the beta.

	Andy posted on 15/04/2013		post a comment

10 Yetis Insight We Find Out What it's Like to be Part of a Paddy Power PR Stunt

Paddy Power is world famous for its amazing PR stunts, we obviously had a very small hand in their Sky Tweets campaign at the Ryder Cup, albeit via a third party, but we thought it would be interesting to speak to someone who has worked on one direct.

Step forward Pia from Vanilla Pod Bakery. I got in touch and asked Pia a few questions about her involvement... I won't spoil it by revealing anything, just read on (oh yeah, by the way, Pia does amazing cakes, she has always done my kids birthday cakes (I am a lazy Dad I know)).

1. So, kudos on the involvement in the Paddy Power Cheltenham Festival Stunt. For those not in the know, explain what you did.
Thank you very much, it was great to be involved. We were approached by Paddy Power to provide cupcakes for four key teams at Cheltenham Racecourse before the start of Gold Cup Week. They were "good luck with the festival cakes" and a great tongue in cheek brand campaign playing on recent events in the news.

2. How did it come to be? How did they find you?
Paddy Power first found Vanilla Pod Bakery in November as they wanted cupcakes to be sent to the staff before the November Open, however these were just branded with the Open and Paddy Power logo. I think we impressed the brand manager with our quick turn around, he ordered 36x cupcakes at midday and we had baked, decorated, branded and delivered the cakes by 4:00pm! So a week before the festival they approached us again and asked if we minded branding them with the horse meat campaign.

3. Did you believe it was really Paddy Power?
As we had dealt with the company before I knew it was Paddy Power. But this time was extra special as I was invited to the Paddy Power box on Ladies Day and got to meet one of the Paddy Power founders and hang out in their box with a couple of my friends, it was a great experience and super day.

4. Did you use any special ingredients?
Haha, no horse meat was used in the making of the cakes. The cupcake flavours were a mixture of delicious Madagascan Vanilla and Belgian Chocolate.

5. Did they have any special requests?
Only that they wanted them delivered on the Monday before the opening day of the Gold Cup week. We had a last minute change to the edible image, the brand manger contacted me just before I placed the toppers on the cakes and ask if I could reprint with the words "only joking". I think more people would have been offended if they hadn't put that on there!

6. Who delivered the cakes? Was it one of your team and where they nervous?
I delivered the cakes to the main reception at the racecourse. I wasn't at all nervous as I thought the cakes were hilarious. It's just a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour, which Paddy Power are famous for!

7. Had any more odd requests from Paddy Power or any other crazy brands since then?
Not yet - but watch this space!

8. What was the reaction like to being involved? We saw you got great media exposure and some serious social media love? Has business gone up?
I asked them if I could put the cakes on my facebook and twitter pages and they said of course. It was great that it went viral really quickly and we have had more corporate orders because of it. It is fabulous to work with such a big company, they are a pleasure to work with and I would happy work with Paddy Power in the future.

9. Would you do it again?
Of course, I love a good PR campaign and anything that will cause a stir!

10. What tip would you give other SME's when it comes to working with such a worldie brand?
I treated them like any other clients and gave them our standard Vanilla Pod service which is always to go above and beyond your expectations.

Finally, give us a two line "elevator pitch about your awesome business".
The Vanilla Pod Bakery is bespoke cake bakery based in Cheltenham specialising in making fabulous wedding and occasion cakes which get you talking! "Love cake, Love Vanilla Pod" #lovecake

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/vanillapodbakery
twitter: www.twitter.com/vanillapodchelt
Website: www.vanillapodbakery.com

	Andy posted on 04/04/2013		post a comment

10 Yetis Helps - How to Find the Best PR Agency

Thanks to our free PR guides (like how to write a press release) and attending a huge amount of networking events across the UK, many entrepreneurs and small business owners come to us at a very early stage of their business planning. Some come along having tried to do their own public relations campaigns and the question is always the same; "How do we find the best PR Agency".

After the initial "good news, you have found them" comedy-gold line we tend to give a few pointers on what to look out for. This is nowhere near a comprehensive list, just the top line things that I think companies should ask about. Don't forget, I come to this having spent that larger part of my public relations career working as in-house public relations person and not PR Agency side.

This experience helps me understand what is important to business owners and in-house public relations professionals.

Sector Experience
You need to check that the agency you are speaking to has good experience in your sector. Nowadays this is not as essential as it once was, especially as the best PR agencies can quickly adapt and enter new sectors, but you need to take this into account.

The best PR agency fit for you will be one that has experience and contacts within your target market.

One thing to keep in mind though is if you are trying to sell products or services to a national audience, is sector coverage important or is it mainstream national media that you really need? If it is, a sector specific PR Agency is probably not the best one for you, you need a consumer or national media PR Agency.

Real Time Results
When you have shortlisted a few agencies that you think are the best fit then you need to look at their results page to see what coverage they have recently achieved. Many, lesser, agencies only show you a carefully selected few pieces of coverage without dates and times on.

We at 10Yetis differ because we showcase our coverage and results in real-time. Our results section shows you the national, trade and regional coverage pretty much as it happens, and this includes broadcast where possible as well.

Be wary of places that show you coverage that is months old, or does not fit with what you are trying to achieve, these are not the best pr agency for you.

Friendly Approach
Not many people wake up and think, "I must make my PR agency person my bezzie", but it is important that you get on with your PR's.

A constant communications stream is vital if you want to get the best from your campaigns. Communications need to be two way, you need to try and feed your agency information, just as much as they need to keep coming up with fresh and innovative ideas to get you the coverage you need.

Contacts
The days of the PR Black book are dead, there, I said it. The best modern day PR Agencies are ones that have a proven track record in quickly establishing themselves in new sectors.

Every agency will have a core set of media contacts that they can rely on for coverage but in todays 24/7 media, the best PR Agency is one that is consistently creating amazing news stories that the media cannot turn down.

Affordability
How much does a PR Agency cost is probably the second most popular question that we get asked. The simple truth is that it varies dependent on a number of factors.

What kind of campaign are you after? What services do you need (releases, social seeding and viral, video PR campaigns, full press office function, media training, you get the gist, the list goes on)? And the most important; what budget do you want to spend?

The cheapest options for PR are often freelancers or individuals but an agency will probably give a more rounded service and has more resources, contacts and combined experience and is, in my opinion alone, probably the best PR option.

So, there you have it, in my mind at least this answers the most commonly asked question that I get asked: "how to find the best PR Agency".

Andy

	Andy posted on 01/04/2013		post a comment