PR In A Jar

Branson says PR rocks!

Click here forBranson's nugget of wisdom about us PR good eggs.

 

Digital switchover and a new star for You Tube

By guest editor Gemma McNeilis

 

It’s not every day that you get to spend 9-5 with an eight foot robot!  That’s what I did earlier this week to announce the date of digital switchover for the Granada TV region (it’s the 4 November, by the way). 

 

Along with colleagues from Smith & Smith PR and Digital UK I travelled the length and breadth of the North West to ensure maximum coverage of the date (4 November!) in local print, TV and radio - and what a day it was!  It felt like Challenge Anneka – running in and out of the car for photo shoots and handshakes, then on to the next place for more of the same.  It was worth it though because it gave us air- time on Granada Reports, North West Tonight, BBC Radio Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire not to mention the commercial stations and coverage in local papers. 

 

Digit Al (said eight foot robot) went down a storm (quite literally given the weather) in Manchester and Liverpool and was subject to dancing, kissing and even some prodding in towns such as Clitheroe, Warrington and Preston.  He caused mayhem in the Radio Lancashire offices – getting stuck in the lift (lifts aren’t made with eight foot tall robots in mind), massaging presenter Gilly while they were on air and swiping him over the head – egged on by the production team. 

 

I was amazed by the reaction of the public and in particular by gangs of teenagers, who I’ll admit sometimes scare me a bit, but there they were shouting for Al and videoing each other on mobile phones hugging him.  Watch out You Tube I think we could have a new star!

 

'The Wire' and its Depressingly Familiar Newsroom Story

Watched the last ever episode of HBO's excellent The Wire on DVD last night, ending the final series which looked at the media in the US and more especially its portrayal (or not) of inner-city issues.

Alpha Dogs, Mad Ave and Josh Lyman on Page and Screen

Wowee! It's all originating stateside at the moment in books and series with PR interest.

Not only is Times ed James Hardings' book Alpha Dogs: How Political Spin Became A Global Business the subject of intensive tongue-wagging on both sides of the pond, but series two of the excellent Madison Avenue advertising drama Mad Men is hitting the screens in the US on AMC.

James signs up for second series of Dragons' Den

Our client James Caan has signed up to do a second series of the BBC programme Dragons' Den.

Dogs' Home Poster Boy Gets Comfy On Set

They say that dogs and TV studios don't mix, but Manchester Dogs' Home resident Bracka proved the theory quite wrong this morning when we took him onto the set of Channel M for a feature about the Dogs' Home's new initiative to help homeless people who have dogs.

Local PR's daughter to star in MTV series about the 'Cheshire set'

Blimey! MTV's new series about the gilded youth of the so-called Cheshire set is to prominently feature the teenage daughter of Manchester PR practitioner Deborah Sadler.

Nigel Jay swaps autocue for the waterways!

Who should we spot on a barge gliding down Canal Street's eponymous canal today but former BBC North West newsreader Nigel Jay!

Motor-Mouths Drag PR into the Mud

Watched The Thick of It last night and marvelled at the streams of abuse that the actors threw at one another throughout, varying from basic four-letter-word abuse to verbal acrobatics of a more imaginative kind.

The Thick of It is certainly the one place where you can hear the word 'PR' used alongside some really choice obscenities ... or is it?

Harrowing Last Minutes Shown On BBC News 24

I do wonder why BBC News 24 saw fit last week to show some very distressing footage of the last moments of Michael Barnett, the 22-year-old from Hull who died in the floods after emergency services were unable to pull him free from a grid.