Top 100 fashion and lifestyle blogs - my blogging bible

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Our friends over at Shiny media recently sent this list of the top 100 fashion and lifestyle blogs. This is a must-have resource for anyone who wants to keep up with the latest trends or find out who will be wearing what this season. This is particularly useful for this time of year, especially for those of you like me, who have still to get their Christmas presents and need some inspiration. The list covers a wide blanket of areas including blogs on shoes, bags, accessories and other bits and bobs to keep you in the know. Being a fashion graduate this list is of particular interest to me as it helps me keep in touch with my personal love for all things fabulous. I also found it interesting as a significant proportion of the blogs were eco-based, a topic that I wrote about for my dissertation. Enjoy.

Social media campaigns - convincing the technophobes…

It appears that the business community is starting to understand that social media has to be part of an effective public relations programme in 2008.

Consumers across the globe are now actively using the popular social networking sites such as Myspace, Bebo, Facebook and Youtube to contact their friends and share content in the form of interesting music and amusing videos. However,  these same people, often become confused as to how social media can then be implemented in a professional/business campaign.

I recently held a meeting with a client who was very interested in what Wolfstar do, and they were equally interested in the analysis we could provide but most importantly they were interested in how we could save them money.

As we continue to show people the power of social media, we find ourselves more and more explaining that the technology is pretty much irrelevant now as we (the social media specialists) deal with that and the truth is editorial content is actually the key.

However, although most of our clients have been enthused by this advice, I have also noticed some apprehension as a small number of business people still see social media as an emerging market - similar to that of the dot.com boom in the 90s, which I was unlucky enough to be a part of. At that time I worked in an international public relations agency in London and we watched aghast as our team increased by 50% in two years as the senior directors gladly took the extra funds being invested to publicise the latest website to be launched, all of which were promising to have more than 10 million customers each. At the time we even asked ourselves who is actually going to log onto these web pages but this was all lead by technology and in the end it failed to deliver because we the consumers weren’t interested in the various sites content or we just couldn’t find them.

Social media is very different as this is a fundamental shift in society. It’s true that technology has aided this shift but this is all about how people are now interacting.

We used to read a newspaper or more recently log on a website to get the latest news and information we required. Now we are sharing content between each other whether its amusing videos or useful tips on how to start a new business - people don’t have to type a URL in to find you anymore - if you use social media correctly and effectively, customers and opportunities will come to you and they will want to work with you because your content is what they were actually looking for.

I think it’s right for many people to assume that this is still an emerging market but with more than 70 Million blogs and 120,000 being created every day it’s certainly pretty well established too. In fact, on Monday blogs actually celebrated their 10th birthday. People have been blogging for a decade about everything from serious business topics through to what they cooked for dinner last night.

As public relations practitioners it’s now time for us to help show the technophobes in business that this isn’t about new technologies anymore this is entirely about good quality content and using it correctly.

Mysko let loose in Oslo

Amidst some much needed filing in my hectic inbox, I thought I’d get in a sneaky blog about my latest trip to Oslo. I arrived in Norway after a seven hour journey from the UK…. the sooner a new runway is built in Leeds the better! It seems you have to fly through Schipol to get anywhere other than the Costa del Sol.

Negativity… sorry, let’s get back on track. So I arrived in snowy Oslo, jumped on the speedy train into the city centre, where I was greeted by our client Fronter UK. The time was late, so after we enjoyed a £10 pint, I hit the hay and got some kip ready for a big day ahead.

I spent the morning with seven UK learning authorities at Kastallet School, south Oslo. We received presentations from the head mistress and supporting ICT teachers. The idea was to get a feel for how Norwegian schools had embraced the platform, pro’s, con’s etc. All in all, it all went down rather well, but then came the pièce de résistance! Three young lads, no more than 14 yrs old stepped in… and without their prior knowledge – so did NRK and the Dagsavisen! They gave an awesome 20-minute presentation, again talking through how Fronter had allowed them to increase communication and student interaction. The Dagsavisen asked one of the lads: “although this new technology has its benefits, doesn’t it mean you have less freedom to occasionally ditch the odd piece of homework”… with a cheeky grin on his face, Robin Svendsen replied… “well….you can’t help it if the net’s down can you…?!” There’s always a way!!!

After lunch I spent the rest of the day bonding with the marketing team, ironing out details for BETT 2008 etc – it really is amazing how much more you can get out of face-to-face meetings.

Six o’clock – time for a swift £12 pint (increased price due to plush venue at Aker Brygge) and some Bacalao. The walk home past the palace, winter market and numerous go-go bars was interesting. No real gossip on that note – just quite a surreal way to finish the night. Before sleep, I had one last check of the email and phone – text from Mum (living on the west coast – oil capital of Norway, Stavanger).

<<WE SAW YOU ON NATIONAL TV TONIGHT!!! SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS FOR JUL!! MUMXX>>

It turns out the local TV story filmed at the school that morning had made it to the nationals, and Seb had been caught on camera. Nice way to finish a very productive day. The following morning I sipped my coffee at Oslo airport and quietly enjoyed the double page spread that had made it into the Dagavisen.

The crazy world of Facebook

When I first created my Facebook account three months ago I wasn’t that impressed. For the last year I had always been a devoted fan of Myspace and Facebook seemed a bit too complicated for me with all this talk of networks and groups. However, after three months as a student in the city of Leeds, I honestly don’t know where I’d be without Facebook.

I have built up a great ‘community’ of friends on my account, most of which are residents at the halls where I live. Everyone regularly updates their status (a sentence user’s change to describe their mood or what they are doing for example), so I always know what everyone is up to. Also, as I am part of the Leeds network, I get sent invitations from promotions companies advertising special events and club nights, so I never miss out! And of course there is also the function to send private and non private messages to my friends, just in case their mobile phone is switched off!

I think Facebook is a fantastic way of meeting new people; not only foreign strangers who you will never meet in the flesh but real people who live in your area or study your course. For example, before I even started uni I had already found two of my flat mates through Facebook and as one of them was especially interested in heavy metal music, I had time to prepare myself…

I really think everyone of all ages and interests can benefit from using social networking sites, especially Facebook. Whether you’re a granny wanting to join the ‘Knitting Club’ or a rock music fan interested in joining the ‘Marilyn Manson Club’, there’s something for you.

Here are just several bizarre groups I found whilst searching through the site:

The Elastic Band Ball Trust (for those who love elastic band balls)

I hate life! (for those who believe the glass is half empty..)

I Love Mullets (for those of you who are fans of 80’s hair styles)

Social media newsrooms - it’s time to stand up and be counted

Whilst trawling the Internet doing some research for a high profile consumer technology client - who shall remain nameless - I noticed that hardly any of the big consumer brands around the world have dedicated social media newsrooms to share their news content with journalists and bloggers.

A social media newsroom, enables rich media content such as podcasts, vlogs and social media news releases to be properly shared and signposted, making a company’s news stories more accessible.

To be honest, there are precious few examples to highlight but GM and Electrolux, are two which immediately spring to mind. Stuart recently made a few interesting comments about Electrolux’s on his blog.

Last week, PR Week dedicated an entire 24-page supplement to the importance of digital and social media with opinions from several people across our industry. They were all (roughly) providing a similar message, which was that PR companies, clients and marketers must all sit-up and take notice of the social media revolution or risk being left behind.

It’s true that a lot of brands do need to wake up to what’s happening in public relations, so I am disappointed to see just how many of them still don’t have an actual working social media newsroom.

OK, here comes a Homer Simpson ‘Doh’ moment, as amazingly we (Wolfstar) don’t have a fully interactive social media newsroom yet either. I can hear the phrases ‘cobbler’s children’ and ‘practice what you preach’ ringing in my ears already.

Hmm, sorry about that and you do have a point but the only response I can give to this is that we have been so busy advising and our clients with their content that we haven’t made our social media newsroom fully interactive - DOH! Don’t worry though it’s on its way - watch this space!

If brands and marketers really do want to differentiate themselves in 2008, they could indeed look into opening a social media newsroom at the very least, as this will mean more journalists and consumers alike will be able to share, comment and bookmark their all important news content.

The ‘lovely’ Rosalind O’Rourke joins the Wolfstar Pack

Hi! My name is Rosalind O’Rourke and it’s my first day of work experience here at Wolfstar. I am currently a third year student at Leeds Metropolitan University studying public relations.

Originally, I come from a tiny little village in Ireland called Derryvale (the sort of place where everybody knows everybody and everybody’s business) and I was dying to escape to somewhere more interesting, so I decided to do my studies in England.

I’d heard about the city of Leeds from family and friends who had visited and loved it. So I thought it would be a good place for me to go and I have never looked back since. I love everything about it, the city lifestyle, the student life and the shopping of course!

Unlike most of my friends I am not doing a placement year. I chose not to do one because I had a lot going on during my second year at home and found myself spending most of my free time travelling back and forth. Because of this I didn’t think it would be fair on either party, as I wouldn’t have been able to put as much effort as I should into a full-time role. I don’t regret this decision at all - I chose to concentrate on my work instead and came through second year with marks that I was really pleased with. And I’m certainly not wasting my year out, I’m fitting in as much work experience as possible and building up my portfolio, so I can go my into my final year with one as good as my course mates.

I spend a lot of my spare time doing typical student stuff, drinking, shopping, and generally spending money that’s not mine! I also work in the Arc in Headingley to help fund this lifestyle. I have been there for over a year now and really enjoy it, everybody that works there is such good friends and most of us are students so the social side of it is great!

Before coming to university I didn’t know a lot about public relations, I originally wanted to be an actress but my careers advisor introduced me to it and told me I had the perfect personality for the job, and I have to say he was right.

I instantly loved the world of public relations and I knew I had a natural enthusiasm for it. Wolfstar is now introducing me to social media and WOM marketing, which I am already developing a massive interest in. I really like their attitudes and views on public relations and engaging with the consumer - so I am hoping I will learn a lot from the team during my time here.

Technorati Tags: Students,Work Experience,Leeds,Yorkshire,Wolfstar,public relations,social media,social metworking,university

So you want a free Skype phone…

The guys over at 3mobilebuzz are running a little competition that I think those of you who have been asking about the Skypephone, will be interested in. The winner of this contest gets three 3 Skypephones, second place gets two and third place gets one.

All you need to do to enter is tell 3 why you want to win a 3 Skypephone – the fun bit is that you can do this in any way you want! The only stipulation is that it has to be in a format that can be linked to. For example, it could be a blog post, forum thread or simple webpage, a picture or a set on Flickr. Here’s one 3 made earlier. Youtube or facebook could also be your tool of choice.

The more creative the better.

So here are the rules 

1. The content needs to be original, not ripped off an insignificant YouTuber (they’ll catch you because you have to tag all your videos 3mobilebuzzcomp1!)
2. The URL of the site which brought the competition to the entrant’s attention (i.e. this one) needs to be included on the entry email.
3. The deadline for submissions is midday on Monday 17th December. So get going…

Entries must be sent to the hallowed keeper of prizes, enforcer of rules and judge of all, Jack@3mobilebuzz.com

Media Guardian podcast - Murdoch’s musical chairs

I’ve been listening to the most recent media guardian podcast – a great little weekly update from Matt Wells . This week focused on the Murdoch takeover of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). In the words of Andrew Neil, it appears he now wishes to ‘step into the ring’ and challenge the mighty New York Times – currently the most powerful newspaper franchise in the world.

Similarly to when he launched BSkyB in the UK, Murdoch is taking his core team out to the big apple with him. The move sees Les Hinton take head position of Dow Jones and Robert Thomas, current editor of The Times, appointed publisher of the WSJ.

The move represents a total shift in Murdoch’s focus – ‘global institutions have more political capital than federal based governments’ says Emily Bell. With the media world evolving as it is, this tycoon is clearly more interested in delving into the minds at Google, than dining at Westminster and befriending the PM.

In Hinton’s place, Murdoch leaves behind son and predicted heir to the throne, the web savvy James, who is set to rule News Corporation in the the UK, Europe and Asia.  

In Neil’s opinion the move can be nothing but a good thing as ‘big American city newspapers are quite often lazy monopolies… the biggest newspaper battle of the early part of 21st Century is about to begin.’ All quite exciting really!

 

The space cowboy returns and joins in the social media revolution

At Wolfstar we are always looking out for interesting stories which get us all talking, and we often like to cherry pick the best and closely examine them to see what is good and what is bad.

Yesterday, we saw a great story about the disco, funk and pop band Jamiroquai, who have launched a new social media website. Seb and I both love the disco funksters, so we found this very intriguing and had to check the site out ourselves.

The band, who have always been known for being forward thinking in their music and marketing, already have a myspace, Facebook group and YouTube channel. So to enhance their offer to their fans they have developed a new website which has incorporated all of these mediums.

The website looks great as it is packed with interactive elements. In fact, the group themselves will all be blogging when they are next on tour - so if you are into Jay Kay (no relation to our Beth) and the guys, make sure you look out for that. I am positive there will be some interesting stories to come out of it. Hopefully, there won’t be anymore expensive car crashes like when Jay Kay last totaled his Lamborghini - see right.

We have been working with a number of musicians recently and reading this article, we noticed that some things which were in our proposals were also included in what they did. If we are honest, there were also some things that we didn’t propose but we will be using them in future as good examples. I personally love the fact that people can download Jay Kay widgets and use them on their own blogs. There were also some things which we proposed which weren’t in what they did, so its good to see we still have some good ideas which will benefit the music industry.

Anyway as it’s Friday, here’s one of my favourite videos of all time which features the guy with the big hat - Virtual Insanity! Obviously, please watch this in your own time and not in your employer’s but that goes without saying.

Skype is good, 3 is bad

3 has launched the new Skype phone. Stuart and I have had the privilege of getting our hands on two of these little mobiles for a month’s free trial, to test out the new Skype features.

Two weeks on and the Skype phone and I have started to build up a relationship. I’m enjoying the fact that I can message or call any of my Skype contacts for free, even when I am a million miles away from my computer and everything has been running smoothly on the technical front. I recommend regular Skype users, who are looking for a new phone, to check this one out, especially if you want to cut down on your bill. However, apart from the Skype feature, it’s really just another phone. I was also slightly disappointed by the lack of games (you have to pay for them) that usually keep me entertained on long train journeys home.

I also advise anyone signing a contract with 3 to think very carefully, after I experienced a particularly nasty situation with £1000 of fraudulent telephone calls on a previous contract. The 3 customer service has a lot to be desired and it is impossible to speak to anyone outside of India (My colleague Chris Norton has also recently blogged about customer service and its failings). There is nothing in place to stop thieves making as many calls as they please and no unusual usage measures are in place. In 3’s defence it did send a text message to the stolen phone warning me of the thousands of pounds of calls being made to Asia and Africa but I’m afraid that when your phone has been taken, it is very hard to receive that alert. 3 has refused to refund any of the charges and I am still paying off the debt.

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