Cassie O'Shea

As this is my first blog post here, I suppose a bit of an introduction is in order.

“Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Cassandra O’Shea, but you can call me Cassie, but not Casey as that is my brother’s name. My parents did not plan that one well. I am American, but please don’t hold it against me.”

As a writer, it is hard for me to resist getting carried away, so I will try to avoid the long life story. I grew up in New Mexico and moved to New York City for university. After ten years living, or barely surviving, in the Big Apple, I took off for international adventure. Trust me, once you live in New York, all the other places in the United States don’t seem very inhabitable. I lived in Barcelona and Ibiza before arriving on the shores of Blighty last May to join my boyfriend at the time, and now he’s my husband.

I started working at Punch three weeks ago, but it already feels like I have been here forever (in a good way). Hired for my writing and editorial expertise, I’ve been diving right into the impressive amount of copy everyone at Punch produces on a daily basis. The fast pace, variety of clients, and diverse nature of the work here is truly thrilling and I look forward to new challenges each day. Also, I look forward to seeing the rabbit greeting committee, sweet little lambs, and darling calves on my morning commute. That makes more sense if I tell you that the Punch office is on a working farm in the middle of countryside.

As always with my global wandering, I have been using Facebook to keep in touch with my far-flung friends around the world. Over the last several months, they’ve been treated to tales of my adventures in the UK, from watching the World Pipe Band Championship in Glasgow to my various experiences with classic English cuisine. The image below of my first proper afternoon tea experience elicited ‘Likes’ from several people, including a Russian friend back home in New Mexico. My brother, who for some crazy reason still lives in New York, commented on how English I have become, whilst my sister-in-law in Chile commented, “Se ve rico el tecito!” I think that means, “You are my favourite sister-in-law ever.”

First post down, many more to come!

Jessica Ward

As a PR person, I know how important PR is for communicating and showcasing brand messages to a target audience. Whilst traditional PR is still very much active, it is slowly becoming subject to the digital age, with an increasing number of innovative ways for utilising PR coming into play. This includes the optimisation of press releases, media relations and events for use on social networks and SEO purposes.

Here at Punch, we know how integrating PR with other tactics enables brands to maximise the effectiveness of a campaign, especially in areas such as media outreach, media coverage, blogger outreach and events.

Media outreach opportunities can be heavily increased by using social media in an integrated PR campaign as it is ideal for initiating and targeting press contacts. I have highlighted before how some journalists are now only accepting news stories or press releases via Twitter, which due to the limited character use, forces PRs to adapt the way they compile and pitch key information. Social media networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are also a great way of sourcing contacts, when their details are not available elsewhere. Media coverage can also benefit from an integrated PR campaign, as in a digital society, stories are often shared via social networks for maximum reach. The press also use social media to circulate news and announce opportunities.

In a society driven by technology, social media is now pretty much key for any type of traditional PR event.  Cryptic clues can be posted via social platforms for any type of PR campaign or stunt, especially Twitter which limits the word count and doesn’t hold as many privacy barriers as Facebook, making it easily accessible to anyone. Blogs are also a fantastic way of integrating mediums such as PR and social media, as news stories pitched to bloggers usually include links to social media profiles. For example, big name brands such as Google have recently posted news announcements via their blogs as opposed to news wires.

As the media industry continues its journey from traditional to digital, the integration of PR with different mediums is inevitable and certainly an opportunity that an increasing number of brands and PR agencies will be taking advantage of more and more in the future.

Erica Whiteman

Social Media Week is using mobile-based photo apps, such as Instagram and Hipstamatic, to showcase the cities hosting the conference in September.  In addition to highlighting these cities, participants who submit photos with these apps will have the chance to win a trip to the Social Media Week destination of their choice: London, Glasgow, Torino, Barcelona, Berlin, Doha, Jeddah, Hong Kong, Seoul, São Paulo, Bogotá, Chicago, Los Angeles or Vancouver. 

According to the Social Media Week website, here are the simple steps to enter this competition:

1. Take a picture:

Using any smartphone device, take a photo that captures the uniqueness and heart of one of the 14 host cities for Social Media Week September.

2. Add a filter:

Using Instagram, or other filter apps such as Hipstamatic, make your photo stand out.

3. Tag & Share:

Using #InstagramYourCity, share on Twitter and Facebook with the city you’re capturing. For example, “Just submitted my entry to @SocialMediaWeek’s #InstagramYourCity for Berlin!” There's no limit to the number of entries you can submit, so get creative!

To highlight the ‘Instagram Your City’ campaign, Social Media Week is also launching a dedicated website which will feature the top 14 images submitted by users. The best photo will be chosen from those 14 and the winner will get to travel to any of the cities hosting Social Media Week.

Even if you don’t live in one of the host cities, will you ‘Instagram Your City’?

Emilie Legrand

My annual trip to Andorra took a new turn in April this year, as not only was I joined by more family and friends than usual including my boyfriend, brother and future sister-in-law, but my colleague George and his wife also decided to come along for the festivities. Going on a holiday with a colleague may not be everybody’s cup of tea but the thought never worried me as I had initiated the idea. In fact, it turned out to be quite a blessing, as not only did we all have a fantastic time, but my social media geekiness (even on holiday!) was finally appreciated by someone.

Social media plays a significant part in most of the things I do, whether it’s at work, watching television, going to the gym, or even on the slopes in Andorra – I am never far away from a tweet or a check-in. This holiday was no different.

Thankfully Wi-Fi was available almost everywhere I went, including the ski slopes, which allowed me to tweet, regularly browse Facebook and even do the odd Foursquare check-in from a chair lift. I was truly in my element. It also emphasised the fact that social media plays such an integral role in our everyday lives by helping us connect with friends and family, share exciting moments, gain points for checking-in to a location tens of thousands of miles from your previous check-in (maybe that’s just me), the list goes on.

Although some may see a holiday as being not only a break from home, but also a break from all things digital, I disagree. In my opinion, holidays are a time to make the most of social media. It is when people have the time to engage with friends and family by sharing all the special moments with the people that are not around to share them with you at the time – therefore my Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare were actively used throughout the week and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

After a successful skiing trip in which nobody returned with any serious ailments other than a few questionable goggle-shaped sun burn lines, social media continued to play a part as fellow holiday-makers connected through Facebook and proceeded to share photos and videos…

Erica Whiteman

A few people I know have recently run marathons.  Inspired by those who have run these marathons, I have often entertained the idea of training for one, but then I remember… I don’t run. I jog/walk on the best of days, and walk very briskly when the weather is nice, but still I do think about running and participating in something like Race for Life.

Studies have shown that music makes you run faster. It’s no wonder that mobile fitness apps such as RunKeeper integrate with smartphone music players to keep runners on track.  I love music and it motivates me, maybe I will run one day.

The Guardian recently featured the ‘Rock n Roll Marathon Series’, which has been running (no pun intended) since the mid-90s across the US, but recently extended the tour to the Europe.  The Rock n Roll Marathon is set up like a band’s tour, complete with an All Access Pass giving entrance eligibility to any of the Series’ events.  There’s even a section to download themed music playlists to keep runners motivated in each city on the tour. 

From what I can tell, running is all about motivation. Fitness apps that integrate with Facebook help keep runners motivated by sharing their times with their friends.  I see friends’ running times popping up on my Facebook timeline every day. Music integration also keeps them motivated.  One of these days, I will get the motivation to put on some running shoes and join them… until then I will just cheer from the sidelines and ‘Like’ their status updates.

Pete Goold

I'm delighted to announce a couple of changes at Punch – firstly we've just appointed Cassie O'Shea, as a dedicated copywriter. Whilst this may sound innocuous – it's something of an innovation for a PR-oriented company in my experience, for a specialist to focus purely on ensuring that our output is of the highest standards. Also, as we have evolved to become integrated PR, Search and Social Media, this underscores the importance of the content creation element of the PR skill set across all three disciplines.

We've made three recent changes internally too – with George Guildford and Kirsty Shaw promotion to Account Director and Will Davis promoted to Account Manager.

Will has been with us since joining as a junior Account Exec – and he has done a great job of steadily growing into the role of Account Manager.

George joined around a year and a half back and has played a central role in a number of major accounts. Kirsty has been with us for just six months or so but already is an invaluable senior member of the team.

So, welcome on board Cassie – and huge, congratulations to George, Kirsty and Will...

Kirsty Shaw

I love nothing more than flicking through a magazine, book or newspaper at the weekend, which is why so far I have been resisting the temptation of buying a tablet. The news last week that Johnson Press is scaling back a number of its daily newspapers to weekly titles and will be moving efforts to more online content was a sad announcement, more so because one of the publications affected is my local paper.

Please don’t think I am anti-technology, in fact I’m quite the opposite. I was brought up in a household where we had to be the first person on the street to get a new gadget, which meant I was never short of the latest games console or TV (thanks dad). However, with more and more publications turning into online-only media, I am mourning the demise of the beloved smell of a new magazine and I am sure I will soon have to embrace the digital editions.

Whilst I see the benefits of digital magazines and newspapers are plentiful, I cannot let go of the fact that I love to turn a page! I like to see how far along in the book or magazine I am. I like to fold over the corner of the page so I don’t lose my place… I am a traditionalist at heart!

Am I totally alone in this or are there other lovers of page turning like me?

Alex Smith

Pinterest has been around for some time now, but has recently taken the online world by surprise with its rapid growth and ability to maintain engagement across its user base. The social network was the third most visited social network in the USA last month, behind giants Facebook and Twitter, and many observers are expecting this growth to continue. 

The focus on imagery Pinterest promotes is paramount to its success. The evolution of technology has fundamentally changed the way that digital imagery is consumed online. It has resulted in a general increase in the use, importance and relevance of imagery across the board, particularly on smartphones – the immediacy and ease of consumption afforded by images makes them perfect for the mobile medium – a picture speaks a thousand words, as they say. 

Now that most social networking activity is conducted on mobile devices, the social networks that will win out are those adapted for mobile use. This is one area where Instagram has been so successful; when it comes to mobile social media, Instagram has the most users and following the addition of an Android application to its arsenal, this dominance looks set to continue.

Instagram’s acquisition by Facebook is a clear sign that Facebook understands that a big chunk of its future is in mobile, images and photosharing. It shows its intention to maximise that opportunity, although how Facebook uses Instagram to its advantage remains to be seen. Mobile imagery can now be considered one of (if not the) most important aspects of social media, so I’d put money on Facebook using Instagram’s technology to improve its photo sharing offering in line with the current possibilities on Google+ and aiming to better it in the process.

Google+ has been built from scratch with the majority of current social network best practices baked in, but faces a challenge if it is to achieve as many users as Facebook, since Facebook has had a clear head start. One of Facebook’s challenges is that it seems to be acquiring other digital startup networks as a means of supplementing its own innovation and adding to its own, presumably with an extension strategy in mind. Many would argue that there is only so much time that this can be sustained, since it was its own innovation that made Facebook as popular as it is to date.

What Pinterest lacks at the moment is clear mobile integration – this will be a key factor in the network’s success in the future. I’m not suggesting that social networkers will move away from desktop, but rather that as people social network with increased frequency, they will do so on mobile devices. Pinterest needs a mobile app if it is going to thrive in the current social media environment.

Either way, the future of social networking is going to be very interesting, we can only speculate and guess what the picture will look like in a few years time.

Jessica Ward

New and exciting ways of communicating stories to the press are on the rise, along with other aspects of digital communication including social media, with some journalists now only accepting news stories from PRs via a Tweet (take a look at #journorequest to find out more).

Of course, traditional aspects of PR such as the press release are far from extinct, but there are various ways in which we as PRs can adapt to these changes in the industry, including communication through social media, online outlets and blogs.

Integrating social media as part of a PR campaign can generate fruitful results, especially considering that social media itself is now one of the most preferred and efficient ways of sharing news. As highlighted above, a select number of journalists now only accept news stories via a Tweet, which is limited to only 140 characters of information, forcing PRs to include only the most relevant information. Other ways of using digital to replace traditional include pitching stories to online outlets, as online publications are becoming even more popular, as print naturally declines due to advertising budgets being cut. Blogs are another way of potentially increasing outreach, as many bloggers will include a website link and/or links to social media sites within posts. Blogs are also more likely to reduce the size of a traditional press release, which also enables PRs to limit their word count to make it as interesting and engaging as possible.

Although the reported decline of traditional PR is by no means something to panic about, it is somewhat of an obvious factor as society continues into the digital age. It is also helpful to establish new and exciting ways in which stories can be pitched to the press, even if this is simply to set yourself aside from the rest and make an impact as opposed to replace traditional PR techniques entirely. 

Colin Miller

We’re coming towards the end of our ‘No CV’ campaign where we are giving entrants the chance to show their aptitude for social media, PR & SEO in a more practical and interesting way than by simply sending us their CVs. By asking prospective entrants to read a brief concerning a fictitious T-shirt company launching a range of limited edition designer garments, they are then encouraged to submit a promotional blog post, Facebook & Twitter content along with some SEO keywords.

We have had some great entries so far with entrants going above and beyond the brief, creating Twitter accounts and blogs to support their entries. The response has been great and we’ve really been able to get a good feel for each entrant’s personality and approach through their content and writing.

The campaign ends on Monday 16^th April, so there’s still time for you to get your entry in. Remember be creative and take the opportunity to show the side of you that your CV doesn’t. With the opportunity to become the next Punch team member, get your #teamgeek hat on and submit your entry today.