tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12174157141201289882009-12-03T08:56:26.326ZA critical eye on the worlds of media and PR: gossip, scandal, analysis and comment from a hack turned flackWill Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.comBlogger555125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-56540833950425637422009-12-02T09:01:00.006Z2009-12-02T09:54:45.990Z

It was touch-and-go for a minute there, but yesterday I got to spend a great afternoon with this year's intake on the Biz Academy, a charitable venture run by Landmark Training and the salesforce.com Foundation which gives young people from East London a taste of business life and training. It was the fourth year I've taken part.Throughout the week, the young people taking part go through a

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-2534154841223774842009-11-29T14:29:00.005Z2009-12-01T09:20:43.123Z

I recently wrote a post about the 'Gillette curse' following the disgraceful cheating of their sporting spokesmodel Thierry Henry. This followed a post I'd first written in 2008 about the faltering fortunes of all three sportsmen heading the Gillette campaign: Henry, Tiger Woods and Roger Federer.Now, following a tough couple of weeks for the Henry brand, now synonymous with cheating, Tiger Woods

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-88523965620766601332009-11-29T13:25:00.004Z2009-11-29T13:46:11.170Z

I was at Newbury racecourse yesterday to witness, among other things, a moment of monumental stupidity and a major public relations own goal.During the running of the first race a helicopter hoved into view, drowned out the commentary just as the horses reached the furthestmost point from the crowds, buzzed the horses and eventually landed in the middle of the track.That at least one horse didn't

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-85930505221115488232009-11-29T06:30:00.002Z2009-11-29T06:33:06.140Z

The latest update on my £500 'Betfair Challenge' has been posted here.

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-22568248816474130462009-11-25T14:37:00.002Z2009-11-25T15:04:53.416Z

Say what you like about Roy Keane but I've attended and even organised plenty of press conferences where I wish somebody on-stage would do this...

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-58397532650409173322009-11-25T11:21:00.010Z2009-11-25T12:13:24.839Z

I've just read an interesting article on PR Week's website. I was baited into clicking by a Tweet from a staffer on the industry title discussing the most influential media."...radio 'most influential' medium" said the business-end of the headline, a red rag to those of us who nailed our colours to the media mast marked 'web' some time ago, but a refreshing antidote to recent Twitterstorms and

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-54805945357184162162009-11-25T11:07:00.016Z2009-11-27T15:24:30.800Z

Those of us who work in agency-land know it's a competitive place. In fact, Harvard PR, my new employer has recently moved into central London largely to ensure we're even more embroiled in the bun fight.Of course we're aware that means there are now 50 competitors right on our doorstep. But I see that as good news. Strong competition should only make us all better at what we do and make the

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-81459836174204365062009-11-23T14:32:00.005Z2009-11-23T14:59:19.707Z

Following last week's shameful behaviour in cheating Ireland out of World Cup qualification, Thierry 'Le Cheat' Henry is now embarking on the inevitable PR offensive to limit the damage done to his hand... sorry, brand by the unfortunate incident.Today the BBC carries highlights of a sob story interview Henry conducted with the French media. Asked, with some priming, I assume, whether he had

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-4818150812286957202009-11-21T15:25:00.011Z2009-11-24T11:05:52.667Z

This post has now moved to its very own shiny new blog. Check it out here.

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-34640037284075361612009-11-20T11:06:00.013Z2009-11-20T12:49:03.969Z

Last year I wrote about the trials and tribulations of razor-maker Gillette whose advertising campaign appeared at the time to be a curse on its sporting spokesmodels. Roger Federa was struggling to win, Tiger Woods was injured, Thierry Henry appeared to be a shadow of the player Arsenal fans had adored.But at least Henry wasn't universally reviled as a cheat.He is now, and takes his place in the

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-14978819750483409152009-11-15T13:31:00.021Z2009-11-24T11:06:40.084Z

This post has moved to its very own shiny new blog. Check it out, here.

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-52506014090954805372009-11-05T16:06:00.006Z2009-11-05T16:12:20.389Z

Last night I attended a Press Index event. It was a product launch for something called Pikanews.com – have a look, it's a media monitoring service that lets you slice and dice the media any number of ways in search of key words. It's clever stuff (though the beta is a little shakey), even if I can’t quite shake the notion that they've really just put a sexy front-end on a lot of Google News

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-27625744098533252222009-11-05T10:13:00.007Z2009-11-09T19:09:03.097Z

This sounds like the worst competition prize in the world. I'm sure it's a good job if you have to do it for a living, but it's a poor, poor, poor competition 'prize'. Perhaps second prize is working in a fast food restaurant for TWO days.(Thanks to the lovely Gemma for flagging). I'd call this a PR fail.If you'd like the chance to be my PA, or cleaner, for a week please post a comment below...

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-75359063029554924822009-11-01T15:42:00.004Z2009-11-01T15:46:15.025Z

There are a couple of very interesting pieces in this weekend's papers pulling together the various strands of recent 'Twitterstorms'; from Jan Moir to AA Gill, via The Guardian vs Carter-Ruck. First yesterday's Guardian, today the Times, home last week to AA Gill's baboon-shooting confession.Perhaps the mainstream is genuinely wrestling with the relationship they must forge with social media.

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-61891647332116491432009-10-30T12:16:00.004Z2009-10-30T12:22:17.380Z

How did I miss this?? No sooner did I flag one well-organised viral video than somebody points out that Oprah did something similar... but A LOT, LOT bigger. She also roped in the Black Eyed Peas to help out. Get her and her gold phone!

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-68174077343589069972009-10-30T11:31:00.002Z2009-10-30T11:32:47.240Z

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-19873691877978080662009-10-28T13:50:00.011Z2009-10-28T14:28:24.760Z

Good to see former colleague and unofficial poster child of social media Jon Silk already up and running, in front of camera in his new home at Waggener Edstrom (where they clearly make people work in early-20th Century classrooms).Here's Jon discussing what makes good PR, it's worth listening (and over on ReputationOnline his comments are pitted against journo Will Cooper from NewMediaAge) ...

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-43547614608383019812009-10-25T23:43:00.002Z2009-10-25T23:55:50.350Z

As a PR man I love a good visual stunt... but please, just make sure it's not going to end up making you the laughing stock.Hats off to all those Manchester United fans who threw beachballs onto the Anfield pitch following the intervention of an inflatable in Liverpool's previous game.But for the not inconsiderable matter of a comprehensive 2-0 beating it was a classic jape. Hopefully it cheered

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-5126301155648225772009-10-22T08:39:00.013+01:002009-10-22T10:31:31.614+01:00

Here is the new Microsoft Windows 7 Advert. Pay particular attention to second 17 through 18 (flagged by the excellent World's Leading)... (continues)Er... she couldn't have done...could she? Well listen again... this time just to that clip (and then take the poll on the right)...

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-41505380088776581752009-10-20T08:35:00.003+01:002009-10-20T08:40:25.668+01:00

I was on More 4 News last night discussing the recent spate of online activism which has highlighted the power of the blogoshpere and more specifically Twitter.It was an interesting piece, ranging in discussion from Stephen Fry's role as the unelected 'president' of the Twitterverse - and the power he wields - to the events of last week; most notably the Carter-Ruck v the Guardian debate and

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-54512759145225443512009-10-17T00:02:00.003+01:002009-10-17T00:05:28.259+01:00

Following the coverage throughout the day of Jan Moir's controversial column on Stephen Gately (see: Daily Mail tones down Jan Moir headline and Jan Moir, London Underground: ‘I’ve got a Twitter and I’m not afraid to use it’ from TheMediaBlog.co.uk) I was invited onto Sky News alongside Matthew Todd, the editor of Attitude, to discuss the issue and the role of Twitter in publicising the

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-83687904928231642152009-10-16T09:55:00.008+01:002009-10-16T12:36:53.525+01:00

I sense a storm in a social media cup is a brewin’ for London Underground today following an account of incredible rudeness by a member of staff towards an elderly customer which is doing the rounds of the blogosphere (original account here). There is also a video capturing the final stages of the spat.Irrespective of provocation – though we’re told there was little if any – it’s probably not

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-87266572181121383482009-10-14T09:40:00.005+01:002009-10-14T09:49:19.332+01:00

The BBC's Panorama debacle has been well covered this week, but it seems the BBC is still badly missing the point.Talking to PR Week, the BBC's head of comms John Shield said: “We are an extremely busy comms operation. So, we are grateful to our professional colleagues at Ryanair for driving publicity for the show.”Er, ...brilliant.So it’s a lose-lose? Which makes…. er, a win, somehow for the BBC

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-14143083122816081822009-10-13T14:16:00.002+01:002009-10-13T14:21:34.387+01:00

As predicted, last night’s Panorama 'revelations' about Ryanair did little to dent the reputation of the airline (all things being relative) but did raise plenty of questions about the BBC. There was no story, nothing new about the claims and it came across as a rather weak piece of television that left the programme and its journalist looking adrift from anything that resembles quality

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1217415714120128988.post-34770597080801873082009-10-12T21:50:00.004+01:002009-10-12T21:57:29.974+01:00

I defy you not to laugh… unless you are easily offended by bad language:A big hat tip to Dan Ilett for flagging that one.

Will Sturgeonnoreply@blogger.com0