Proof that spoofs aren't all goofs...

Last week Nick Clegg took to YouTube to apologise to students, parents and voters over the LibDems backtracking on an election pledge to oppose university tuition fees. His heartfelt apology used a medium associated with youth, and accessible to more than if it were buried in a newspaper article: a calculated move to connect with those disillusioned with the LibDems' role in the coalition.

However, as with anything released on social media, releasing the video is like releasing a small monkey into a supermarket: unpredictable but sometimes amusing and something that people will talk about for a long time after... While some spoofed the speech to vent their anger at Clegg and his party, others) helped to soften the reputational damage around the party's decisions with videos that reached many more people than the original apology would have ever done alone. The Poke satirical website were quick to release an autotune spoof of the speech, with Clegg's approval, as a charity single and YouTube hit:

Spoofs can be the ultimate form of accolade and perpetuate a campaign long beyond its otherwise serious shelf life. This spoof took debate around Clegg's message beyind the usual traditional press and across social media. See this PRWeek article for more discussion on the value of spoofs in this instance and if you'd like to see the original, click here - however the most interesting aspect of this will be seeing how many more spoofs are spoofing the spoof...

Is any publicity good publicity?

Waitrose's bright idea to embrace Twitter and encourage customers to tweet 'I shop at Waitrose because...' with the #WaitroseReasons hashtag sparked way more publicity than the brand anticipated - not all of it good... Twitter was awash with tweets lampooning the brand for its upper middle class credentials, products and customers, such as “I also shop at Waitrose because I was once in the Holloway Road brand and heard a dad say ‘Put the papaya down Orlando!”.

As PR watchers such as Marketing Week and Marketing magazine debate the old adage 'is any publicity good publicity?' the question is probably more about social media and lack of control. If you unleash a social media PR strategy it WILL, at some point, backfire. Non-users, or even active opponents, of the brand have as much access to a medium such as Twitter as loyal customers. In which case, you need a crisis plan, you need to monitor activity and you need to be actively and imaginatively engaged in the debate.

Waitrose attempted to tackle the tweets with their own tweet, however it fell short - "Thanks for all the genuine and funny #WaitroseReasons tweets. We always like to hear what you think and enjoyed reading most of them." Perhaps talking the consumers' own language, with humour and tongue in cheek, may have been more appropriate...and a one off tweet just won't cut it. 

Brand + trend = creative ideas

Great PR unites your brand with the most exciting new trends to create something  innovative and original that will generate buzz - so you need to keep your ear to the ground for what's happening out there. This website, trendwatching.com is a great resource, feeding through trends in the consumer world. For instance, these 12 minitrends spark all kinds of ideas and show how some brands are a step ahead. Check out Uniqlo's app that wakes users up with a gentle update on the weather and music to suit in line with the 'tech domestics' trend. Or the 'one touch' trend exemplified by Red Tomato's fridge magnet that allows you to order your favourite pizza at the touch of a button. Many of these trends could lead to your own ideas for your own brands - for instance how could you mimic 'artificial scarcity' with special editions or limited daily runs of low involvement products, like the Doughnut Vault, or could you develop a super-eco version of your brand? Or how can you unite virtual and real worlds in 'real world liking' like C&A in Brazil? Take these trends - put them together with your brand - and see what happens...