December 2011

A Social Experiment : Can Man Live on Social Media Alone?

Are you a self confessed social media junkie with an appetite for adventure? If so then the opportunity of a lifetime awaits you!

The London Social Media Week team have teamed up with our friends in Singapore to run a mini exchange trip in conjunction with Social Media Week.

The overall idea...one person, five days, Singapore. Uncover the power of social media and how it can be used for social good.

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21 December 2011 by Francesca Heath

Smart TV, Smartphones, Tablets, DAB, Facebook:  YouGov’s consumer technology predictions for 2012

Crystal Ball

YouGov, the most quoted research agency in the UK, today reveals its predictions for 2012 on people’s consumption and behaviour around Smart TV, smartphones, Facebook, digital newspapers and digital radio.

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19 December 2011 by Lauren Cotton

Review of the Year: Pick Your Highlight #highlight2011

About this time last year we asked you if you could pick your most significant thing of 2010 what would it be?

We got some great results, from facebook reaching half a billion users to the one and only SXSW and one of my personal favs, the use of the word 'hacktivist' in a Daily Mail headline about WikiLeaks.

2011 has been a year full of ups and down, from the launch of the ipad 2 in March to the very sad loss of the Apple icon Steve Jobs in October. There has been technology failures, the BlackBerry network went down and left millions moving over to the i phone and you can't forget the PlayStation network hack in April.

Google+ took on Facebook and you can now ask your phone if you are going to need to take a umbrella to work thanks to the development of voice control.

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19 December 2011 by Francesca Heath

Simon Says: Download These Apps - 5 Favourites You Should Try Before 2012

iphone

As 2012 approaches I thought I would write a nice post.

I hate the clichéd "prediction" articles you tend to get at this time of the year as peoples predictions tend to be either biased hopes (which never happen) such as me wishing for a hoverboard just because Back To The Future said they would happen. Or really really easy extrapolations of what's happening right now. The industry moves fast and predictions change hourly, so that's not what this post is about.

Here are my 5 favorite iPhone apps of 2011. And why I think you should get them for 2012. I've specifically avoided the usual suspects (Twitter, Facebook, FML etc). In no particular order...

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16 December 2011 by Simon Caine

Target Promotion Misses Bullseye: A Tale of Four Blunders

Offensive Target Ad byATIS547

What seemed like a fantastic marketing campaign, turns out to be a horror story. Metrics were missed, warning signs ignored and US retailer, Target ends up 'doing a Hoover'.

As with so many promotions, it started with a terrific deal for customers. Visit Target's Facebook page and get a $10 gift card for spending $50. What happened next was a  free-for-all with deal hunters gaming the system, some claiming profits of $5,000. So, what went wrong? 

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15 December 2011 by Sam Michel

SMWLDN 2012 Brainstorm #2: Food, Fashion, Sport, Music, Gaming, Family

lounge plan

After the success of our first Social Media Week brainstorm, the second, with a consumer focus, took place last Wednesday 7th December at Ketchum PR's offices in Shoreditch.

The aim was to explore how social media is impacting our day-to-day lives from the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the music we listen to, the games we play, the sport we do and the way our families interact online.

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13 December 2011 by Lauren Cotton

The Value of Being Compliant, and How to Get There

Gloomy Laptop

When it comes to the ePrivacy Directive, the first step towards getting compliant will be in admitting that you have a law to deal with and it's not going away.

Evidence of innovation on your part with regard to transparency - doing something meaningful to advance dialogue with your consumers, explaining how and why you are using their data - will put you in a strong, defensible position come the deadline for compliance in May 2012.

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13 December 2011 by Scott Meyer

#NewTwitter Rolls Out Worldwide

Twitter Brand Page: Pepsi Co

The #NewTwitter is rolling out worldwide. Whether you have the new interface yet or not, it might be worth knowing what’s new, and what it’ll mean for you, your brand or your business.

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12 December 2011 by Richard Woods

Simon Says: Google+ has a chance to sit next to Facebook

Google vs Facebook

Google+ started life as an attempt to be another Facebook. If I am honest it did a better job - but then again, it's not hard to stand on the shoulders of a giant (metaphorically speaking). The problem with Google+ is it doesn't offer anything additional to Facebook on first viewing.

Google+ is beautiful and easier to use than Facebook - my mum could set up an account on her own which is saying something. But after half an hour she was back in Facebook. Why? None of her friends were using Google+.

So does Google+ stand a chance? Until recently I would have said no.

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9 December 2011 by Simon Caine

Come Along for Some Christmas Cheers - Thursday 15th December

It's that time of the year again, mince pies are coming out of your ears, that log fire smell is in the air, silly xmas decorations are up in the office, all in all there is alot of Christmas cheer about the place and to make it even better, we have another 'xmas drinks' to add to your list. 

Chinwag have teamed up with Kathryn McMann Consultancy and Put It Out and have organised a very informal xmas get together next Thursday,15th December in central London for some drinks, networking and chatter. We also have a magician for all your entertainment needs.

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8 December 2011 by Francesca Heath