Top Hollywood producers and directors are turning their attention from the big screen and embracing the world of mobile video production and distribution. And their interest spells out an important message to anyone in the world of PR or marketing. At the production end of things Steven Soderbergh has now produced two full length feature films shot entirely on an iPhone. Last year it was ‘Unsane’ which streamed on Netflix and this year it was Read more…
What change do you wish to see in the world? Or, what change do your customers and followers wish to see in the world? Great communication starts with understanding people. The particular group of people that make up your audience. Understand their wants and needs. Their hopes, dreams and fears. And then look to establish if there’s a way you can align your business and your message with what they want. Then flip it. Create Read more…
Lots of PR and communications specialists (and MDs and CEOs) have far too rigid an idea of what constitutes a crisis. With the world moving at such a speed these days, it would help to be more open minded and recognise that things can flare up out of nowhere and cause serious problems if you’re unprepared. A phenomenon I’ve noticed recently involves the ‘archive’ section of local newspapers. This is a real growth area with Read more…
I fear the normally astute John Swinney is out his depth on this one. It’s a brave Government minister who puts his head above (blue) water and tells pupils, teachers and parents that the blue water coming out the taps in their school is nothing to worry about. He’s failed to grasp that even an independent review won’t satisfy many of the individuals affected. And that’s due to the fact that just because something is Read more…
Radio phone-in programmes such as Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2, Kaye Adams on BBC Radio Scotland and James O’Brien on LBC are interested in one thing above everything else – making great radio. That means, when they are sifting through the calls, text and social media interaction and deciding who to invite on-air to challenge the guest, they are often influenced not simply by the content of the caller’s argument, but by the passion Read more…
Last week, an online journal, SearchEngineLand, ran a story about a supposed drop in organic search traffic to the Daily Mail’s website. It carried quotes, which it claimed came from the news publisher’s ‘SEO Director’ Jesus Mendez. But had Mr Mendez really said what the website was claiming he had? Did anyone check? As SearchEngineLand stated in its article, ‘that’s according to a post in the Google Search Console Product Forms from a user claiming Read more…
The summer months represent an ideal opportunity to learn some new skills. This summer, Comsteria is running one workshop which will transform the way you create video content for your business and another which will help you launch your own podcast. Both take place in our office in Glasgow city centre, near the bottom of Bothwell Street, a 2 minute walk from Central Station. Emma Baker will run the Smartphone Video Production course and Colin Read more…
Tik Tok is the latest social media platform attracting serious hype and keeping teenagers amused for hours. I’ve been spending some time getting to grips with it for our new Social Media Investigations service. If you want to know more about how Tik Tok works, this video explains what it’s capable of and how to get started and this one from the BBC discusses the privacy concerns which every parent should know about. With such Read more…
John Myers was a great guy, a brilliant broadcaster and an inspirational leader. I thoroughly enjoyed working for him during my time at Real Radio in Scotland. John passed away on Saturday and is being very fondly remembered by those who knew him best. My thoughts and condolences are with them all. For me, John represented a great deal of what I’d consider a great leader. He shared many of his views on life, work Read more…
I experienced some first class face-to-face customer service the other day. The company we lease our office from had taken too much money from our account this month. Naturally, I was keen to get to the bottom of this and put things right straight away. I’ve been paying this company every month for more than 18 months now and while I have never previously had any complaints about our office or the service they deliver, Read more…